Gardai believe a gang of traveling criminals carried out up to eight burglaries in a Donegal town in just four hours.
The gang of four robbed a number of houses by using distraction techniques.
The gang struck first around midday on Monday last in Raphoe before targeting others homes in Convoy and Drumkeen.
The gang escaped with a range of valuables including jewellery, cash and laptop computers.
The gang also tried to rob a milkman of his takings in a smash and grab robbery on his van but he had his money with him.
Some of the gang members distracted house-owners at the front of the property as other members entered around the rear.
Garda Supt Vincent O’Brien said they believe they know the identity of the gang concerned.
He said they have received invaluable assistance from the public and from the PSNI across the border.
“We believe this is a gang of traveling criminals who operate in a hit and run fashion.
“They enter a town and carry out as many raids as they can before leaving again,” he said.
Gardai say they are looking for CCTV footage from business owners which may include a blue of green coloured Mazda 6 car which Gardai believe the gang used.
Supt O’Brien said he believed the gang have been working along the border and previously struck before Christmas.
The senior Letterkenny-based Garda said he did not think the spate of burglaries was connected to the robbery and assault of 96 year old pensioner Greta Lilly in Buncrana last weekend.
The Mayor of Donegal, Cllr Frank McBrearty, who lives in Raphoe, said Minister for Justice Alan Shatter needs to man border crossings again.
“At present gangs can simply come and go across the border at will and they are not accountable to anybody.
“That was not the way in the days when there was a border there.
“We need a Garda or an army presence along the border to prevent this type of crime from happening in the first place,” he said.
