A decision is ‘imminent’ on a murder charge against Daniel Kinahan, after the gangland war that has claimed 18 lives
An extensive garda file on the Kinahans, including recommendations for organised crime charges against gang boss Daniel Kinahan, was submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in August 2023.
Another file was sent seven months later over the fatal shooting of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch’s brother Eddie, which sought a murder charge against the cartel leader for involvement.
A decision on this is said by sources to be imminent.
Gerry Hutch leaves court after his acquittal in the Regency trial. Photo: Mark Condren
It has now been a decade since Gary Hutch was shot dead in Spain, sparking Ireland’s bloodiest gang war, which has claimed at least 18 lives to date.
The murder of The Monk’s nephew on the Costa del Sol on September 25, 2015, on the orders of the Kinahan cartel, put the two organised crime gangs on a collision course.
Before then, they were aligned in criminal enterprises, largely drug dealing and importation.
Despite the absence of feud murders in recent years, it is not considered over, by gardaí or either faction.
No one sat down, shook hands and said, ‘It’s over’. Therefore, it’s not over
It is understood that Gerry Hutch still takes precautions, both in Lanzarote and in Dublin, to ensure his safety, but does not feel “in any immediate danger”.
The Kinahans, too, have security details in Dubai to protect them.
Was a peace deal brokered between the sides to end the bloodshed?
“No one sat down, shook hands and said, ‘It’s over’. Therefore, it’s not over,” a source said.
“Even if that did happen, Daniel Kinahan’s handshake is like an ice cube that melts. It means nothing. Just look how he double-crossed Gary Hutch.”
Gerry Hutch was living in retirement in Lanzarote when he was drafted in to broker a peace deal between Gary and the cartel.
Gary was then working in Spain with the Kinahans and was a close friend of Daniel before a dispute over a drugs shipment.
Daniel Kinahan
The Monk, who ran in last November’s general election and narrowly miss out on a Dáil seat, mediated a meeting in Spain and helped organise a compensation payout to Kinahan to spare his nephew’s life.
However, after the money was paid, Gary Hutch was murdered in a double-cross.
Three months later, on New Year’s Eve, cartel hitmen sent to Lanzarote to kill The Monk failed in their mission.
The Hutch gang hit back with the attack at the Regency Hotel on February 5, 2016, when senior Kinahan lieutenant David Byrne was shot dead.
What followed was a “one-sided annihilation” by the Kinahan cartel against the Hutch mob, which resulted in 18 deaths, most of them on the Hutch side.
A source with deep knowledge of both criminal groups outlined how the fortunes of the Kinahan and Hutch gangs have changed in recent years.
“When the feud kicked off 10 years ago, it was David v Goliath stuff. The Kinahans set about destroying them,” the source said.
“They annihilated them in terms of the body count. Then the garda focus turned to dismantling the Kinahan cartel. That pressure stopped them killing the Hutches. It paused the feud — for now at least.
“The smaller Hutch mob are not under as much garda pressure because they aren’t as significant.”
We know exactly where Daniel Kinahan and Co are in Dubai when we need to go get them
Gardaí say they are confident of a direction for serious charges against Daniel Kinahan and others within the highest echelons of the international crime syndicate.
At the “very least”, detectives have Kinahan on travelling on a fake Irish passport that was bought for €2,000 from a former drug addict, a court previously heard. Kinahan had use of the passport for six years before it was cancelled.
The Kinahan probe is led by the Garda’s Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB), assisted by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI).
Gerry Hutch at the funeral service for his brother Eddie, in 2016. Photo: Reuters
Gardaí have no issue with the time it is taking as “it shows the DPP wants to ensure this is iron-clad. We know exactly where Daniel Kinahan and Co are in Dubai when we need to go get them”, a source said.
If criminal directions are issued, gardaí will start the complicated and potentially lengthy extradition process against the Kinahan leadership from the United Arab Emirates.
The DPP has been considering a separate file on Gerry Hutch in relation to alleged corruption of gardaí. Sources told the Sunday World that Hutch is unlikely to face charges as part of that probe.
The main focus of the NBCI is securing charges against serving and former garda officers for allegedly passing on intelligence to the Hutch gang. It is understood the file has been with the DPP for 18 months.
Gerry Hutch leaves court after his acquittal in the Regency trial. Photo: Mark Condren
Gerry Hutch was arrested and later extradited from Spain in 2021, accused of being one of the gunmen who killed Byrne in the Regency Hotel attack. He was acquitted in April 2023.
The Special Criminal Court said it was satisfied that members of the Hutch gang were responsible for the Regency attack and Byrne’s murder, but not that Gerry Hutch was directly involved in the shooting.
During his trial, evidence was given in relation to the existence of the Hutch gang, which was described as “familial” and “patriarchal” by a senior garda.
The last murder gardaí directly link to the feud was that of Eric Fowler, who was shot death in December 2018. He had links to the Kinahan cartel and also had connections to members of the Hutch family.
The Kinahans realised that the more “bodies they dropped”, the further attention it brought on them, and not just from gardaí.
The US authorities have offered a $5m bounty for information leading to the arrests of the cartel’s leadership. In Dubai, those in power have been wondering if harbouring the Kinahans is worth it.
There has also been “an acknowledgment” by the Kinahans’ exiled leadership that if the murders were to continue, so too would attention from various international police forces.
One investigator said: “The Kinahans, who had the upper hand, realised it was bad for business and just brought more heat.
One thing we could never rule out, though, is someone lower down the food chain trying to make a name for themselves by attempting to take out a major player, like Gerry Hutch, for example. But that, in reality, would be disastrous for the cartel.”
The Hutch gang has come out ‘the better’ of the feud, at least in terms of current standings
Daniel Kinahan is dealing with other problems. The cartel has forged an alliance with Scottish criminals in Dubai, led by gangster Steven Lyons. Last week, Lyons and three of his associates were taken into custody in the UAE and are now facing deportation or extradition, weakening the Kinahans’ standing there.
Gerry Hutch has his problems too, in Lanzarote.
He was arrested last year on suspicion of money laundering in a joint investigation between the NBCI and Spain’s Guardia Civil.
He was later released on bail, and the investigation continues. He has shrugged it off, telling associates he is not worried.
Sources agree the Hutch gang has come out “the better” of the feud, at least in terms of current standings.
“You would imagine the Kinahans must have some regrets about how trigger-happy they were, considering the impact it’s now having on their criminal organisation,” a source said.
“On the other side of the coin, consider the human toll for the Hutches in terms of murders. Daniel in handcuffs is hopefully the next major development, but if this feud taught us anything, it’s that everything can change in a moment in gangland.”