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Revision as of 16:28, 15 March 2007 by O'Donoghue (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The "Florida Four" refers to Anthony Smyth, Conor Claxton, Martin Mullan and Siobhan Browne who were arrested for running guns from the USA to the Republic of Ireland for eventual use in Northern Ireland by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The three men are natives of Belfast, but Browne, who was never officially a member of the PIRA, hails from County Cork.
The operation was first uncovered in 1999 and the group were convicted in () 2000. The group was able to send about 100 handguns, rifles and shotguns, as well as armour-piercing ammunition. The weapons were mailed from Fort Lauderdale () in packages containing toys and electronics (). Browne later said that Claxton "spent more than USD $100,000 off the books on semi- and fully automatic weapons".
In August 1999, the () PIRA denied sanctioning the plot through the Irish republican newspaper An Phoblacht. Although Conor Claxton () said in court that he was sent to Florida by a senior IRA official and that they needed higher approval to complete the arms mission.
Notes
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