A WELL-KNOWN member of the Kinahan cartel is in hiding after the murder of Derek Coakley Hutch last week as fears of a reprisal attack against the gang rises.
One of the key Dublin lieutenants has not been seen since last week and gardaí believe that the return of the Hutch gang’s main hitman has spooked the man into leaving.
The hitman, who has been in hiding for a number of months, has returned to the capital. He had spent a number of months in exile after dodging a number of attempts on his life.
His reappearance in Dublin has gardaí on edge.
Derek Coakley Hutch was shot dead at the Bridgeview halting site near Cloverhill Road, Dublin, last Saturday.
Prison bosses and gardaí are also attempting to piece together if intel about his whereabouts was leaked from somebody within Wheatfield Prison.
It is understood that Coakley Hutch and two of his associates went to the halting site every Saturday to throw drugs into the adjacent jail.
It has been alleged that these drug runs were being orchestrated from within the prison walls and that Derek ‘Del Boy’ Hutch was behind them.
Del Boy, who is a nephew of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, is serving a manslaughter sentence in at the west Dublin prison and is not expected to be released until 2025.
He has a number of other criminal convictions including ones for armed robbery, firearms offences as well as a number of public order offences.
Prison sources believe Del Boy Hutch is “the most protected prisoner” in the Irish state such is the threat to his life from the Kinahan cartel.
Following the death of his cousin Coakley Hutch, prison officers were informed that gardaí would be focusing on the interactions between Del Boy’s associates and the outside world.
Del Boy and his associates have managed to smuggle a number of phones into prison in recent years. One avenue of investigation is that one of his associates tipped off the cartel about where Coakley Hutch was going to be at the weekend.
Gardaí from Lucan Garda Station are today asking anyone who was in the Cloverhill Road area between 1.30pm and 3.10pm yesterday with dash cam footage to come forward. They are particularly looking for information in relation to two cars:
The Volkswagen was found shortly after the shooting on fire at Crag Avenue, Dublin 22. The Toyota was found burnt out at Snowdrop Walk, Darndale at 6.25pm.
Derek Hutch is the 14th victim of the ongoing feud between the Kinahan and Hutch gangs.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Lucan Garda Station on 01 666 7300, Ronanstown Garda Station on 01 666 7700, or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.
In another violent incident believed to be linked to the feud, two men were injured in a shooting near Dublin’s National Stadium last night. The men were shot near a boxing event at which a Hutch relative was set to compete.
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