Socialite targeted in €250k drugs bust
A DUBLIN socialite – who leads a double life as a major drug trafficker and money launderer for the Kinahan cartel – was the ‘primary’ target in a series of raids in the capital, targeting a cocaine ring in Australia.
The suspect, who is in his late 20s, is in a relationship with a model. He was not one of the six people arrested in the capital yesterday in connection with the drug-dealing operation in Australia and New Zealand.
However, the drug trafficker was arrested two weeks ago as part of the same investigation and later released without charge, the Irish Daily Mail has learned. The socialite, who is from Dublin, leads a gang that has branched out into drug-dealing in the southern hemisphere. He moves in ‘social and celebrity circles in Ireland’ and has been ‘selling coke to the great and good for over a decade’, according to a well-placed source.
A senior source added: ‘He’s a clever young man and fancies himself as a mover and a shaker, as well as a crime kingpin. He is deeply entrenched with the Kinahans. They bankroll his operations and he was only able to expand overseas with their cash and expertise.’
The man has been flying his associates to Australia to meet drug shipments and set up ‘significant drug dealing operations over there’. The cocaine is not shipped from Ireland, but its shipments are owned by the Dublin gang. The cash is being returned to Ireland to be laundered.
In yesterday’s operation, led by the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB), assisted by intelligence from police in New Zealand and Australia, six raids were carried out in Dublin ‘chasing the money’.
Houses were searched in Drumcondra, Artane, Finglas and Swords and €250,000 in cash was seized, concealed in a mattress. Five men – including a fireman – and one woman were arrested. They are all from Drumcondra, Coolock and Finglas. Some of those arrested, who are aged between 27 and 31, have recently returned from Australia. All were held on suspicion of money laundering offences.
It is understood the woman arrested, aged 24, was asleep on the mattress containing the money at her home in Drumcondra.
She is in a relationship with one of the five men taken into custody. None of those arrested are considered serious criminals ‘in any way’.
It is understood arrests have also been made in Australia and money has been frozen.
A senior source said: ‘Cocaine, already an expensive drug, costs a lot more for the Aussies and Kiwis to buy. The gang led arranged shipments from South America, it is believed, and had them shipped over to Oz. Then Irish lads were dispatched over there, met the drugs, and set up dealing operations. The cash was being sent back here and then being laundered.’
ali.bracken@dailymail.ie
‘Sells coke to the great and good’