{"id":379209,"date":"2026-04-03T01:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/379209\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T01:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:42:11","slug":"dublin-crime-boss-mr-big-arrested-in-investigation-into-murder-of-robbie-lawlor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/379209\/","title":{"rendered":"Dublin crime boss Mr Big arrested in investigation into murder of Robbie Lawlor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crime godfather Mr Big is due to appear before the High Court on Friday<\/p>\n

19:55, 02 Apr 2026Updated 20:14, 02 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

\"Robbie<\/p>\n

Robbie Lawlor was gunned down in Belfast in 2020<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed have arrested one of Ireland\u2019s most dangerous criminals – over the murder of gangster Robbie Lawlor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sources have confirmed to the Irish Mirror that detectives arrested the criminal known as Mr Big in Dublin<\/a> on Thursday – on foot of an extradition request from the PSNI<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sources tell us the PSNI want to charge the infamous Dubliner – who is a suspect for up to 16 killings – with the murder of Lawlor in April 2020.<\/p>\n

Lawlor, 34, was gunned down in Ardoyne in north Belfast – but Garda\u00ed and the PSNI suspect Mr Big ordered the hit from Dublin.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood investigators have evidence from a busted criminal communications network called Encrochat that they believe showed Mr Big was centrally involved in the Lawlor murder – and he is now to face a murder charge if, as expected, the High Court in Dublin rubber stamps his extradition.<\/p>\n

The Dubliner is due to appear in the High Court on Friday.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed confirmed his arrest in a statement on Thursday. They also said they had been involved in a joint investigation with the PSNI over the murder.<\/p>\n

The force said: \u201cThe Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI) of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na has been involved in a joint investigation with the Police Service of Northern Ireland into the murder of Robbie Lawlor on 4th April 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis afternoon, Thursday 2nd April 2026, investigating Garda\u00ed from the GNBCI arrested a male (aged in his 40s) in Dublin on foot of a Trade and Cooperation Agreement extradition warrant to extradite the male to Northern Ireland to be charged in connection with the investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe male is currently detained at a Garda station in the Dublin region and will appear before the High Court at the Four Courts, Dublin 7 tomorrow, Friday 3rd April 2026, at 10:30am.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na has no further comment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PSNI also issued a statement, saying: “A man in his 40s has been arrested in the Dublin region today, Thursday 2 April, on suspicion of the murder of Robbie Lawlor.<\/p>\n

“The man was arrested by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and is due to appear before the High Court at the Four Courts, Dublin 7, tomorrow Friday 3rd April 2026 at 10.30am.”Robbie Lawlor was shot dead outside a house in Etna Drive in North Belfast on 4 April 2020.”<\/p>\n

Although the Lawlor killing happened in north Belfast\u2019s Etna Drive, investigators believe it was organised and ordered from Dublin.<\/p>\n

Investigators believe Mr Big sanctioned the murder of Lawlor because he feared the Dubliner was planning to kill him as part of the Drogheda feud.<\/p>\n

Lawlor was a suspect in the horror murder of teenager Keane Mulready-Woods in the Co Louth town in January 2020 as part of that feud – and Mr Big was linked to the opposing side.<\/p>\n

\"Keane<\/p>\n

Lawlor was a suspect in the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

He feared Lawlor was planning to kill him – and decided to strike first.<\/p>\n

Officers also believe the crime Godfather had it in for Lawlor since he murdered associate Kenneth Finn, 36, in north Dublin in February 2018.<\/p>\n

Two men have already been charged with the murder of Lawlor after a PSNI investigation north of the border, but last year officers teamed up with Garda\u00ed to mount a joint operation that saw the series of searches in the Republic.<\/p>\n

A house connected to Mr Big was one of 12 properties searched in that operation – in which Garda\u00ed seized phones and other electronic equipment.<\/p>\n

\"Kenneth<\/p>\n

Robbie Lawlor murdered Kenneth Finn, an associate of Mr Big, in 2018(Image: Irish Daily Star)<\/p>\n

Sources say last year\u2019s operation was linked to the Encrochat affair \u2013 when French police broke the encrypted phone service used by criminals all over the world.<\/p>\n

Data from Encrochat phones have been used in dozens of trials in the United Kingdom \u2013 but sources say Garda\u00ed used their treasure trove of information as intelligence.<\/p>\n

Mr Big, who is heavily involved in drugs, tiger kidnapping and other serious crime, has long been a major target of Garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n

But officers have never been able to land a knockout punch against the Dubliner – despite him being charged with at least one serious charge.<\/p>\n

His gang is in the frame for a string of murders, including dissident republican brothers Alan and Vincent Ryan, as well as Lawlor.<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed also believe Mr Big is setting up his own cocaine smuggling network by sourcing cocaine directly from South America.<\/p>\n

Sources say Garda\u00ed who have been monitoring Mr Big believe he is one of the most intelligent and ruthless gangsters in Irish criminal history.<\/p>\n

Want to see more from the Irish Mirror? Making us your preferred source on Google<\/a> means you\u2019ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away. To add Irish Mirror as a preferred source, simply click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Crime godfather Mr Big is due to appear before the High Court on Friday 19:55, 02 Apr 2026Updated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[45,1115,615,42,43,7288,169509,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-379209","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-an-garda-siochana","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-dublin","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-psni","14":"tag-robbie-lawlor","15":"tag-top-news","16":"tag-top-stories","17":"tag-topnews","18":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}