One of the cars involved in a series of hijackings around the border has been recovered at Rathfarnam in south Dublin.
In all nine vehicles were stolen or damaged by the gang on Thursday.
Police believe the men who went on the hijacking spree across counties Down, Armagh and Louth had been drinking.
A mother whose car was stolen by a three-man in County Armagh has said she feared her three-year-old son would be taken in the ordeal.
The woman, who does not want to be named, said the thieves' attempt to steal her car was only foiled when a lorry driver blocked the road.
The 30-year-old woman was driving on the main Newtownhamilton to Belleek road at about midday on Thursday when the incident took place.
Noose
After unsuccessfully trying to steal her vehicle, the three men hijacked a pensioner's car and forced him to drive into County Louth with a rope tied around his neck.
The man, who is in his 60s, was left in the car when the thieves reached Dundalk.
Police suspect the same men had earlier stolen a silver Vauxhall Astra from a caravan site at Tollymore Forest Park.
Chief Superintendent Bobby Hunniford said the hijackers had traumatised the people they had attacked.
Meanwhile, police in the Republic of Ireland are investigating an incident where an 81-year-old woman was injured when she was dragged from her car by a gang of youths in Dundalk, County Louth.
They then struck again when they stopped another female driver on the Old Warrenpoint Road, pulled her from her car and assaulted her before driving off again.
This car has since turned up in Dublin.
The gang are thought to be aged in their late teens or early 20s and may have southern Irish accents.
Irish police said they believed the incidents on both sides of the border were connected.
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