THE CRIMINAL ASSETS Bureau (CAB) is investigating a limousine service which is suspected of being used by the Kinahan cartel to launder money.
The enterprise has long been believed to be a front for senior gang members considered the most important players in the cartel’s Dublin operation.
The fleet of high-end vehicles is particularly busy in the second half of the year as bookings are made for parties, family events and debs.
The garage offers cheap rates to customers but is then suspected of putting huge amounts through the books, allowing the cartel’s money men to wash drug cash, away from CAB’s eyes. The CAB investigation is ongoing.
Many of the vehicles have come from the UK and have been shipped by the Kinahan gang’s main player in the English West Midlands. This man has overseen the importation of tonnes of drugs into England - some of which are distributed to dealers locally, with further quantities being sent to Ireland via our sea ports.
He is under surveillance by police in the UK who suspect that the man has been involved involved in criminal activity for nearly a decade. The man took over the area when Christy Kinahan Senior moved to Spain to set up his drugs empire.
Sources have claimed the UK-based Irishman gave the owner of the limo company a cheap deal for the vehicles. The owner, in return, would launder money for the cartel.
It is also suspected that another senior member of the Kinahans’ Dublin operation has been using a garage linked to the limo business as a ‘chop shop’ – where parts of high-end stolen cars are dismantled and sold.
However, in recent weeks, relationships between the criminals have soured with many members of the gang paranoid that others have been leaking information to the authorities.
Gardaí now believe that conditions are ripe for infighting in the cartel to break out – which could cost further lives.
The relative quiet between the Hutch and Kinahan gangs is not down to any talk of a peace deal. Instead, most members of both of the gangs are on holiday abroad – with just a skeletal crew from each gang operating the drugs trade from their own patches in the north inner city and south inner city respectively.
Gardaí are waiting for their return back to Ireland. However, well-placed sources have told TheJournal.ie how officers do not expect all the members of each gang to return.
Senior figures in both gangs are subject to arrest warrants here or are persons of interest in active murder investigations. These men are likely to be arrested when they return to Irish shores.
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