‘The Monk’ in Romania, with another alias
Gardaí fear ‘master of disguise’ may never be found
GERRY ‘The Monk’ Hutch is now believed to be hiding out in Romania, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.
Sources this weekend said there are ‘strong indications’ the 58-yearold ‘master of disguise’ has made his way to the Eastern European country using an alias.
An international manhunt is underway to find the notorious criminal after he vanished from his Spanish base within ‘hours’ of a planned arrest last month.
Gardaí are understood to be ‘disgusted’ Hutch escaped capture after having secured a European Arrest Warrant for him.
Before the warrant was issued, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) judged that gardaí had enough evidence to charge him with the murder Kinahan cartel member David Byrne.
‘Indications he travelled on false passports’
Hutch has known criminal connections in eastern Europe and it was always suspected that he would attempt to make his way there after fleeing Lanzarote.
‘It’s an international manhunt across Europe and there is a lot of pressure to find him,’ a source told the MoS.
‘There are strong indications he used false passports to get to Romania. There is a lot of pressure on getting him.’
Another source told the MoS it is feared the crime boss ‘may never be found’, but gardaí are putting extensive effort into tracking him down and are working closely with international law enforcement agencies.
‘The reality is he may never be found; he is the master of disguise. He uses false passports and has a professional network around him to help him disappear. The gardaí were so close to catching him, within hours of getting him and there is a lot of annoyance that he has gotten away.’
Gardaí painstakingly compiled the evidence against Hutch in the years following the murder of Byrne and three weeks ago, the DPP decided there was enough to charge him. Byrne, a member of the Kinahan crime cartel, was shot dead at the Regency Hotel in February 2016.
A European Arrest Warrant was issued for Hutch’s capture and the application for the warrant was sent to the i-24/7 database at Interpol, Europol and all police agencies in Europe. An alert has also placed on the Europe-wide SIS 2 Schengen Information System, informing law enforcement agencies that he is wanted on foot of an extradition order.
‘The gardaí will go to huge effort to find him, but he’s good at moving around. If or when he is found he will be brought home for trial in the Special Criminal Court,’ a source said.
The evidence against Hutch includes a secretly recorded conversation from a listening device placed in a vehicle used by him days after Byrne’s murder. The recordings picked up Hutch and another man, who is currently in jail for threats to kill, as they took a trip to Northern Ireland.
The two men talked about the attack and could be heard referring to the AK-47s the gang had used.
Last year, it was reported Hutch secretly travelled with four associates to Poland for firearms training less than two weeks before the Regency attack. Gardaí believe Hutch associates spent two days training in the use of firearms, including AK-47s. The Regency Hotel attack sent shockwaves around the country and made international headlines.
It was planned in revenge for the murder of Gerry Hutch’s nephew, Gary, by the Kinahan cartel in September 2015.
Some 18 people have been killed in the subsequent feud.
Hutch’s brother, Eddie, three of his nephews and two of his best friends were all murdered.
The huge investigation into the attack is being run by detectives from Ballymun Garda Station.
In 2019 the trial of Hutch’s nephew Patrick Hutch collapsed following the tragic death of the officer in charge of the inquiry, Detective Superintendent Colm Fox.
In February 2019, the DPP entered a nolle prosequi and dropped the charges against Patrick Hutch.
The last sighting of Gerry Hutch in Ireland was in February 2016 at the funeral of his brother Eddie.
‘Gardaí were within hours of catching him’