Belfast's top police officer last night said it was "too early" to declare the loyalist feud over and vowed to pursue the remnants of 'C Company' who fled Northern Ireland.
Acting Assistant Chief Constable Maggie Hunter said some of those loyalists and mainstream UDA members may still face arrest and be tried for crimes including murder.
"There will be arrests of individuals in relation to the loyalist feud and as a matter of course we will liaise with colleages across the water," she said.
In her first interview since the UDA declared a 12-month cessation of military activity, the senior officer also revealed that further charges could be brought against some loyalists if links to recent sectarian killings, including that of Gerard Lawlor and Daniel McColgan, can be proven.
"It (the investigation team) is not just looking at the recent murders or attempted murders in connection with the feud," she said.
"I know we have arrested people as part of the feud who we suspect of involvement in previous murders and that is part of our ongoing inquiries.
"If we have evidence or information that leads us to believe that some of those people across the water may have been involved in any murders, we will be talking to them.
"Very often there is an overlap in terms of the personalities involved."
Ms Hunter said she could not say with certainty that the feud, which had claimed several lives, was over, adding that security levels on the streets would remain in place for some time.
"I would not sit here at this stage and say that I believe the loyalist feud is over. It is too early. In the last week we have seen a lowering of activity," she said.
"We will continue to keep our level
of patrolling. We will continue to watch what is going on.
"We will not drop our guard or walk away from our investigations."
Ms Hunter acknowledged the scepticism over the UDA's 'ceasefire' and said latest intelligence assessments suggested that the threat posed by the group against the nationalist community was now "certainly lower than it was some weeks ago".
"I welcome the statement," she said.
"It (violence) has caused great hurt and devastation within communities. I think there are those people within loyalism who want to turn away from that. We have to wait and see."
With still no arrests over last July's murder of Catholic teenager Gerard Lawlor, Ms Hunter dismissed claims that the police were more ready to arrest and charge republicans than loyalists.
"You only have to look at the events over the last few months, the large number of loyalists who have been arrested and charged," she said.
