Paranoid gang boss fled to Dubai as net closed in with Gardaí and PSNI investigating
The Dublin gang boss was so paranoid he was about to face imminent charges that he fled Ireland for Dubai earlier this year.
Mr Big, who is considered one of the main players in Ireland’s underworld, fled to the Emirates in February because he feared he was about to be scooped by gardai for ordering the killing of Robbie Lawlor and directing criminal activity. He is the focus of probes involving An Garda Síochána and the PSNI and his gang is suspected of being involved in numerous murders, including the 2020 hit in Belfast on notorious gunman Lawlor.
At the time of Lawlor’s murder, criminal gangs believed they were able to communicate securely through the Encrochat encrypted messaging service — but unbeknown to them it had been hacked by authorities.
Robbie Lawlor was shot dead in Belfast in April 2020
Polices forces around the globe were able to watch in real time as criminals, including Mr Big’s mob, communicated with each other and organised gang hits and drug and weapons shipments.
Users of the service only discovered in June 2020 that the system had been hacked.
By then, police forces had built up a treasure trove of evidence and intelligence.
Lawlor was murdered in April 2020 while police were monitoring the hacked Encrochat network.
It is understood that police on both sides of the Border have been co-operating as part of an investigation into Mr Big’s activities and believe they can link him to numerous crimes, including murder.
Prosecutors are now set to determine whether any charges will be brought against Mr Big.
Sources say they are confident that they can tie the Dublin-born gang boss to a specific profile on Encrochat which was used to direct criminal activities, and that he is “right to be worried”.
Gardai have already searched properties linked to his gang to match up furniture and other items with pictures sent via the phone network.
Mr Big is already well aware that the net is closing in on him and tried to get ahead of investigators by moving to Dubai earlier this year.
He applied for residency there but was turned down by UAE authorities. He later returned to Ireland and appeared in court in Dublin on minor matters earlier this year.
Encrochat features
Despite being a prime target for gardaí for more years, Mr Big has no major criminal convictions.
He rose to prominence in north Dublin and was known for his involvement in tiger kidnapping and drug dealing over the years, but avoided serious convictions.
Members of Mr Big’s gang were linked to numerous shootings, but the wily mobster also profited from the murder of rival gang bosses.
Unlike many of his adversaries, Mr Big managed to side-step various feuds, including a major gang war with the Real IRA.
Police at the scene of Robbie Lawlor’s murder in Belfast in April 2020
At the time, the RIRA was led by Dublin man Alan Ryan, who had ordered the killing of several Dublin criminals and who once tried to target Mr Big.
However, Mr Big’s gang was believed to have helped organise Ryan’s murder in 2012.
Ryan’s brother, Vinnie, who was also part of the Real IRA, was also shot dead in 2016.
Having survived the feud with the Real IRA, Mr Big was subsequently dragged into another bloody gang war with one of Ireland’s most notorious gunmen, Robbie Lawlor.
Lawlor was seen a psychopathic hitman who had been linked to a string of murders, gun attacks armed robberies and other crimes.
Associates of the gang boss had been in dispute with Lawlor since the murder of Mr Big’s associate Kenneth Finn in Coolock in 2018.
Finn was a feared gangland gunman who was a suspect in the murder of Alan Ryan.
Lawlor was the prime suspect in his murder.
The feared enforcer was also heavily involved in the Drogheda feud and was at war with the Maguire faction.
Lawlor’s close associate Richie Carberry, who was also feuding with the Maguire faction, was shot dead outside his home in Bettystown, Co Meath in 2019
He blamed Mr Big for the attack on Carberry.
Lawlor was subsequently suspected of being involved in the brutal murder of teenager Keane Mulready Woods who was dismembered and had his body parts dumped at locations in north Dublin as part of the feud.
Gangland boss ‘Mr Big’
News in 90 Seconds – 24th August 2025