CRUSHING A €1BN CARTEL
Walls closing in on Kinahans after alleged enforcer and launderer Morrissey is held in Spain
ASPECTACULAR takedown of the Kinahan crime cartel is on the cards following the arrest of its suspected first chief member. As he languishes in a Spanish prison cell, Johnny Morrissey knows there is only one way he can save himself from a life behind bars. The 62-year-old, who is infamously known for his love of luxury, is expected to be made an offer he can’t refuse in exchange for information on cartel bosses, including Daniel Kinahan, his father Christy and younger brother, Christopher Jr.
The charges against him are monumental. Morrissey is suspected of laundering €350,000 of illicit cash per day for the Kinahans and €200million over the past 18 months. He was also one of the seven people sanctioned by the US Office of Foreign Asset Control in April for providing material financial assistance to the Kinahans.
Being extradited and sentenced in the US is the worst-case scenario for Morrissey as he could face more than 40 years in prison.
But similar to the plot of a hit mafia drama, the alleged money enforcer may be offered a lifeline by the Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA] to give up the Kinahans. It would be a historic achievement for law enforcement in Europe and the US who laid bare the inner workings of the ‘Kinahan Organised Crime Gang’ this year.
In Ireland, the expanse of their $1billion drug empire didn’t come as much of a surprise, but it stunned many people across the world who had never heard of this criminal gang from Dublin.
But how did a family of crooks in Dublin become one of the world’s largest criminal gangs?
Christy Kinahan, from Phibsborough, Dublin, is credited with starting the cartel in the 1990s.
Raised by a middle-class family and educated in a private school, the promising youth had more opportunities than the vast majority of children in Ireland.
Despite this obvious advantage, Kinahan opted for a life of crime – committing offences ranging from burglary, theft and forgery in the 1970s and 80s.
It wasn’t until September 1986 that this petty criminal was arrested for his first major drugs offence, serving a six-year jail sentence in connection to the seizure of IR£117,000 worth of heroin in Fairview, Dublin.
Kinahan’s next serious brush with the law happened when he was arrested in 1997 after being linked to a batch of stolen cheques worth IR£16,000. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
Christy used his time behind bars to further his criminal potential. With the help of the Irish Prison Service’s education system, he completed a university degree, along with taking part in legal courses, which have helped him to run an international crime business.
It is understood he is also fluent in Spanish and Dutch.
He moved to Spain in the late 1990s where he began to build up his feared cartel and was soon dubbed with the nickname ‘Dapper Don’ for his neat dress sense.
Dealing mostly in heroin and cocaine, Christy gradually grew his illicit business into an empire, importing directly from South America and dealing into Ireland, the UK and Europe.
His sons, Daniel and Christy Jr, accepted key positions in their father’s enterprise, where they continue to manage his drug trafficking operations.
They are also associated with dealing arms in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and South America.
Despite US government documents identifying Daniel as the head of one of Europe’s most prominent drug gangs, he continues to protest his innocence and says he is a legitimate businessman in the boxing world.
Born in 1977 to Christy Kinahan and mother Jean Boylan, Daniel kept a relatively low profile growing up in Tallaght.
In 2009, he took an active role in his father’s international drugtrafficking business.
The 45-year-old relocated to Dubai in recent years as the Kinahan and Hutch feud raged on in Ireland. In April, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control [OFAC] stated that ‘each member of the organised crime group reports to him’.
It said: ‘He has instructed his gang members to send money to a variety of individuals serving prison sentences, including a person convicted of attempted murder and an individual jailed for murder on behalf of the cartel.’
In recent years, Daniel has tried to establish himself as a legitimate boxing promoter, founding MTK Global in 2012.
He has also represented international boxing star Tyson Fury and was instrumental in putting together a bout between the heavyweight champion and Anthony Joshua, which was due to take place last year.
Before a $5million dollar bounty was placed on his head by the US government, he regularly posed in pictures with prominent boxers on social media.
He now resides at an unknown location in Dubai as the US sanctions and the arrest of Morrissey wreaks havoc on his cartel.
While having a lower profile than his older brother and father, Christopher Jr is said to play a major role in the financial operation of his family’s cartel.
The 41-year-old regularly contributes to a fund used to pay members of what the US government calls the Kinahan Organised Crime Group (KOCG). He also responds to directives from his brother to transport and sell narcotics in the UK.
Daniel repeatedly tried to rebrand himself as a legitimate businessman.
However, his attempts could not fool the Irish public, who have witnessed the abhorrent Kinahan cartel violence over the past seven years.
The Kinahan/Hutch feud began in September 2015 when Gary Hutch – a member of the rival Hutch gang – was shot dead at his home in Spain’s Costa Del Sol.
He had allegedly been working with Daniel until the pair allegedly fell out over the tiger kidnapping of a Dublin bank official that netted millions of euro.
Rumours – later proved false – began to emerge that Gary was a snitch for Spanish authorities.
A sum of €200,000 was also said to be paid to the Kinahan family by Gary in exchange for his life.
However, Gary was gunned down by hitman after reportedly begging for his life.
That sparked a brutal and bloody gang war, which saw at least 18 people killed in three years.
By the time it was over, many prominent members of the Hutch gang were dead.
The climax of the feud came in February 2016 when Daniel narrowly survived a shooting that killed David Byrne, a Kinahan associate and brother of Liam Byrne – one of the gang’s senior members.
Daniel, in his role as a promoter, was attending a weigh-in ahead of a boxing match at the Regency Hotel in Dublin.
As those linked to the fight milled about in the lobby of the Regency, six Hutch gang members pulled up at the hotel.
A getaway driver positioned himself outside the hotel while two others – one dressed as a woman – guarded the door with handguns.
‘Each member of the gang reports to him’
Three men, wearing Garda riot gear, burst in through the door.
Wielding AK-47 rifles, the trio opened fire in the lobby, killing Byrne. Daniel survived and later claimed he had seen the rifles being pulled 20ft away and narrowly escaped as gunfire rang out.
The feud prompted authorities to ramp up their efforts to catch the gang, bringing in the UK’s National Crime Agency, the EU’s Agency for Law Enforcement Co-operation, and, due to the South American connection, the US State Department.
In March, they struck their first serious blow against the gang as Thomas Kavanagh and two associates – Daniel Canning and Gary Vickery – were jailed in the UK on guns, drugs and money laundering charges.
Kavanagh got 21 years for smuggling £30million (€34.2million) worth of cocaine and cannabis hidden inside industrial equipment.
Police who raided his bullet-proofed mansion in Tamworth, near Birmingham, also found hauls of cash and weapons. His conviction marked the downfall of the UK branch of operations. The following month, the US State Department sanctioned seven other members of the gang – most of whom are now based in Dubai – and issued $5million rewards for information on Christy Kinahan Sr, Daniel and Christy Jr.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said at the time that, while the gang heads may have run from the law in the past, they would not be able to keep running for ever and would soon run out of money.
Gardaí now believe the Kinahan gang is on borrowed time.
Since the recent sanctions imposed this year, the cartel are struggling to launder money and cannot travel legitimately across Europe.
They are also considerably fearful of informers and are no longer as feared as they once were.
Rumours that the Kinahans have fled to Kazakhstan have circulated over the summer but a Garda source told the Irish Daily Mail it is their belief that they are still in Dubai.
The source said: ‘They are most likely holding tight in the UAE for now but that doesn’t mean they won’t make a move as the authorities advance closer to them.’
While their gang is facing ultimate destruction, the Kinahans are still a major player in the international drugs market.
They are understood to be still in business with South American drug suppliers, with the cartel suspected of flying 120kgs of cocaine (worth more than €8million) into Longford last month.
‘The are most likely holding tight in UAE’