A convicted Dublin criminal who fled the Irish Republic after the murder of the investigative journalist Veronica Guerin by another gangland boss has been arrested in the Netherlands.
John Traynor is in Dutch police custody after being detained in Amstelveen, outside Amsterdam, in an operation between detectives in Holland and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca).
In a statement, Soca said Traynor was believed to have been living in the Netherlands for a number of years.
Guerin was shot dead by the pillion passenger on a motorbike as she stopped at traffic lights in Naas, just outside Dublin, in June 1996.
Traynor, 62, has been wanted in the UK for 18 years after absconding from prison one year into a seven-year sentence received for handling stolen bearer bonds in London.
A prisoner at Highpoint prison, in Suffolk, he was given temporary release, came back to Ireland and did not return. He is now awaiting extradition to the UK to serve the remainder of his sentence.
Traynor was one of Guerin's criminal contacts who, prior to her murder, was seeking a high court order to prevent her from writing about his involvement in organised crime.
He hired a gunman to shoot her in the leg a year before another gangland criminal in Dublin had her assassinated.
Traynor fled Ireland after she was shot dead and moved between Spain and the Netherlands. He was arrested with Brian Meehan in Amsterdam in 1997.
Meehan was extradited and is now serving life for the murder. Traynor was released without charge.
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