Major drug trafficker shot dead in garden

A MAJOR drug trafficker died in a suburban garden as he tried to flee his attackers in what is being described as a well-executed gangland hit.

At least eight shots were fired at Christopher 'Git' Zambra as he vainly ran for cover after his car was hemmed in.

One of the getaway cars was later found burnt out, along with a handgun used in the savage attack.

Zambra (39), from Galtymore Road in Drimnagh, in Dublin's south inner city, was a full-time drug dealer on the southside of the capital.

He was also a suspect for the murder of John 'Champagne' Carroll and faced trial twice for the trial but was not convicted.

Gardai said last night that Zambra was on his way to visit his sister, Sharon, when his beige-colouredAudi A4 car was hemmed in at Cooley Road, in Drimnagh, by two other vehicles – a silver NissanQashqai and a silver saloon.

At least three men were involved in the attack at around 3pm.

Six shots were fired initially from the handgun into the Audi and Zambra, who was on his own in the car, climbed into the front passenger seat and stumbled out of the vehicle. Shots hit the windscreen, and more blasted out the driver's window.

He ran along the pavement and into the garden of a house three doors away.

Zambra then collapsed in the garden and the gunman fired two or three further shots into his face.

The hitmen then made their escape and abandoned the Qashqai a short distance from the murder scene, at Benmadigan Road in Drimnagh, where they set it ablaze with the handgun inside the vehicle.

The car was burnt out in a hurry, and the driver's door was left open as the gunman was most likely picked up in another car and driven away.

Gardai believe the Qashqai had been stolen recently. Zambra was pronounced dead at the scene and his body was later removed to the city morgue where a post-mortem examination will be carried out today.

The area was sealed off by local gardai as they erected a blue forensic tent in the front garden of a house at the junction of Cooley Road and Kilworth Road, as they awaited the arrival of officers from the technical bureau to carry out a detailed forensic examination. Spent cartridges also littered the ground in front of the car.

Source-Irish Independent