PSNI detectives investigating the murder of John Boreland carried out a number of searches in north Belfast on Saturday morning as mourners gathered to pay their last respects to the leading loyalist.
A police spokesman confirmed two addresses were searched and a car was removed for further examination as his funeral service got under way on the Oldpark Road.
Prominent loyalist Andre Shoukri was among a large number of people to attend the service at the Moravian Church on the Oldpark Road.
The 46-year-old father-of-three was gunned down outside his Sunningdale Gardens apartment in the Ballysillan area of north Belfast on Sunday night.
He had been a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and had survived a previous attempt on his life in 2014.
Along with Shoukri, Boreland had been expelled from the mainstream UDA in 2006 and since then had sided with dissident loyalists who conspired to overthrow the organisation's leadership in north Belfast.
In a newspaper obituary notice to his life-long friend Shoukri said: "My heart is broken and I have no words to describe how my life is not going to be the same without you in it. The only peace I will take is that you are with Ihab. I will always cherish our many memories.
"God bless my friend and brother", he added.
A 42-year-old man arrested in connection with the murder was released unconditionally on Tuesday.
On Thursday, police reissued a public appeal asking for anyone who was in Sunningdale Gardens between 9.30 and 10pm on Sunday, August 7 to contact them.
They also asked for anyone who may have seen any suspicious vehicles or witnessed anyone acting suspiciously to contact detectives.
It is thought up to six people may have been involved in the planning of the murder, including the gunman who is thought to be a loyalist 'hitman' who recently served a jail term for drugs offences.
