DAWN RAID ON KINAHAN GANGSTERS
CAB officers seize luxury cars, cash and jewellery
For more than a year officers have worked up profiles on gangsters CAB SPOKESMAN DUBLIN YESTERDAY
THE Criminal Assets Bureau yesterday seized luxury cars, cash and jewellery during dawn raids targeting the Kinahan cartel.
Officers, backed by armed and emergency response units, swooped on associates of gunman Gareth Chubb.
Local gardai also assisted in the operation as they raided 10 properties across Dublin.
A spokesman said: “Approximately €28,500 cash and £700 sterling has been seized along with three cars – an Audi A4, a BMW X5 and a VW Passat.
“Twenty watches including Rolex, Audemars Piguet, Tag Heuer Carrera and Luminor were also recovered along with a small quantity of drugs suspected to be cocaine, subject to analysis, and cannabis resin, subject to analysis.”
Officers also found diamond testing kit to weigh and process jewels.
The crackdown included swoops on three private residences in the Rialto and Inchicore areas.
Those targeted included associates of Chubb who was sentenced to six months this year after being found by police in Holland with a handgun in Amsterdam.
He has been identified by law enforcement investigators in Ireland and in Europe as a key member of the Kinahan crime group.
It comes just a week after gardai and CAB officers launched raids on a number of properties in the Clondalkin area.
Private homes and office blocks were searched in the operation.
A source said: “This is part of an ongoing strategy by CAB and organised crime investigators targeting the Kinahan cartel. This is directly targeting riches gathered through criminal activities.
“For more than a year bureau officers have worked up profiles on each gang member and their extended associates.
“Acting on these profiles gardai have built up a picture of who is involved and the raids is the next stage in that strategy.
“Investigators are systematically working their way through all of the Irish-based elements of the gang – taking out their assets. The one thing
that hurts crime gangs more than arrests is going after the money.”
A CAB spokesman said officers also found diamond trade equipment.
It is understood criminals have been using jewels as a safer way to launder cash across international borders.
A spokesman said: “In excess of €20,000 has been frozen in financial institutions and investigating officers also seized a Presidium Diamond testing kit which is used to verify the quality of gems.
“Documents and mobile phones have been seized and will be examined. No arrests have been made. This investigation is in relation to criminal activity and organised crime in South Dublin.”
Earlier this year Chubb was accused by prosecutors of pointing a pistol with a silencer at a man.
It was claimed he heard the trigger of the Walther PKK gun click five times. A court heard the gun had jammed during the botched shooting bid and the alleged target ran for his life. It’s believed a row erupted over a fake drugs deal.