Hutch-Kinahan feud has claimed 13 lives since David Byrne’s Regency Hotel shooting death – with 16 people dead in total
SINCE the shooting of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel on February 5, 2016, 13 people have been killed as a result of Ireland’s deadliest gangland feud.
And with a total of 16 people already losing their lives after the Kinahan cartel declared war on Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch’s mob and family, the targeting continues.
Alongside the bloodshed, homes have been torched, families warned of threats to their lives, people forced from their homes and armed gardai have swamped south and north Dublin inner city streets.
Despite the mayhem after the Regency Hotel attack, the State has gone on the offensive against Ireland’s most dangerous gangs.
In an exclusive interview with the Irish Sun today, Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll, who is in charge of the Gardai’s Special Crime Operations, vowed to continue the fight against Ireland’s crime gangs in the coming year.
The senior officer said: “The necessity for us to intervene on 59 occasions is evidence there is still a determination of criminal organisations to use murder as a mechanism to achieve their aims.
“If these groups were dealing only in drugs, and they didn’t engage in killing, there would be a lot less attention on them."
Just three years after the murder of the Kinahan cartel gangster, officers from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau have saved 59 lives and seized €147million worth of drugs.
During the crackdown on organised crime, GNDOCB investigators have also seized 91 firearms and 3,000 rounds of ammunition.
Some of the firearms recovered — including an AK47 seized when officers swooped on the Greenogue Industrial Unit in January 2017 — were to be used for attacks on the Hutch gang.
And the gangs have also lost a staggering €8,317,000 in cash.
Since Byrne’s killing, senior members of his gang have also been convicted of murder.
They include his first cousin and notorious gangster ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson who was caged for life for the murder of David ‘Dotty’ Douglas on July 1, 2016.
Thompson was convicted of the murder last August when the Special Criminal Court ruled he masterminded the hit on the Hutch associate.
Other senior members of the gang to be jailed include INLA contract killer Johnny Keogh for the murder of Gareth Hutch in May 2016 and hitman Eamon Cumberton for the slaying of Real IRA man Michael Barr, in April 2016.
Keogh’s sister Regina and close pal Thomas Fox were also caged for killing dad-of-one Hutch.
During the last three years, Gardai have also secured convictions against cartel associates for conspiracy to murder and facilitating organised crime gangs.
Those convicted of conspiracy to murder are Estonian hitman Imre Arakas, who failed in a plot to murder Hutch associate James ‘Mago’ Gately.
Others caged for facilitating the Kinahan cartel include Jason Keating over the murder of Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan on December 22, 2016 and Martin Aylmer for helping the killers of Michael Barr.
And others convicted of possessing weapons include longterm Kinahan cartel associate Declan Brady and his sidekicks Jonathan Harding and Sean Ruth over the huge weapons seizure at the Greenogue Industrial Unit in west Dublin in January 2017.
Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll added: “In many of the interventions since the Regency incident, GNDOCB took action because there was a real and significant threat to life.
“The message to communities is that we are determined to dismantle these groups [and] . . . are better placed in terms of intelligence gathering.”
The Assistant Commissioner, whose gangbusting scalps include drugs kingpin Tony ‘King Scum’ Felloni, also welcomed last year’s convictions of cartel associates at the Special Criminal Court.
And as mob boss Daniel Kinahan and his gang continue to remain in exile in Dubai, Assistant Commissioner O’Driscoll also emphasised the Gardai’s crucial work with its law enforcement partners abroad.
The experienced investigator added: “A very important aspect of our work at the moment is international cooperation.
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“During 2018, we were involved in joint operations involving authorities in Costa Rica, Holland, Spain and even Australia.
“The extent to which we have developed contacts with law enforcement agencies around the world will help us achieve further success.
“Our aim is to dismantle those organised crime groups that are causing greatest damage within this jurisdiction through their engagement in threat to life, and also in the trading of drugs and firearms.”