COPS believe the INLA is now bigger than the IRA in Dublin and has turned to drugs crime.A series of pipe-bomb attacks - the latest on Tuesday morning in Pimlico in the south inner city -- has been linked to a so-called active service INLA unit in the city and is believed to have been prompted by an escalation of a drugs territorial war between rival gangs.The leader of one gang, a 27-year-old with major international drugs connections, twice recently escaped with his life in two assassination bids.Following the second attempt to murder him almost three weeks ago an underworld contract was put out on the life of the 34-year-old INLA leader of the rival gang.He has been warned by undercover cops that he is a murder target. He is wanted in Britain for questioning about the murder of an English soldier.Cops believe the two gangs are responsible for several murders in the past year as the INLA stepped up its campaign of shootings, intimidation and pipe-bomb attacks in a bid to take over lucrative drugs markets.Grenades and improvised pipe-bombs are now so widely available in the city that they are being sold between gangsters for as little as $550 compared to $2,300 a year ago.Detectives have expressed alarm about the sheer quantity of devices now available and say it is far easier to source a pipe-bomb than a firearm.All four devices used in recent attacks are believed to have been part of the same cache hidden somewhere in central south Dublin.

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