YESTERDAY’S SEIZURE OF nearly €3 million worth of cocaine along with various other cocaine mixing devices and agents represents the latest setback for the Kinahan Organised Crime Gang.
The last 12 months have seen the KOCG’s business decimated by a network of informants and multiple seizures, as well as attention from international police forces.
The latest action by gardaí gives us an insight into the workings of the gang and, according to sources, shows how despite the various setbacks, the KOCG still wields significant influence in Ireland.
The alleged cocaine factory was squirreled away inside a legitimate business off Dublin’s Long Mile Road.
A hydraulic cocaine press was just one of several processing tools seized by gardaí at the premises. A drugs press is a special machine that compresses the cocaine into block form, making it easier to conceal and transport.
The size of the seized blocks has informed gardaí that the facility was not a low-level cocaine production point. Instead, gardaí believe that this particular cocaine distribution hub was serving some of the most heavily used routes around Ireland but also internationally.
Another avenue of investigation is that this hub was being used to send cocaine to other gangs in Ireland.
Despite shutting this particular cocaine factory down, officers believe it is likely that there are several of these hubs in operation, as well as dozens of smaller versions processing cocaine around the capital.
Gardaí said over 2,000 canisters of Nitric Oxide (used in the production of cocaine) and €78,000 in cash was recovered and that eight people were arrested during the raid.
Two people have since been released without charge.
It is expected that electronic devices seized yesterday will result in significant intelligence for gardaí. Officers are hoping that the devices will have information about some of the supply routes used by the gang.
The premises which was raided is a functioning business. However, gardaí had received intelligence that it had been acting as a front for the KOCG for at least six months.
Gardaí are now in the process of establishing whether the business owner had any knowledge of the scale of the operation and if the business or its staff were part of the criminal enterprise.
The seizure is a reminder that despite overwhelming pressure being put on the KOCG, it is still a force to be reckoned with, according to security sources.
While the seizure of drugs is a financial hit for the gang, it also represents a number of significant finds by gardaí in the last 12 months. Yesterday’s operation will impact the KOCG more than losing drugs alone, sources have maintained, with one knowledgeable source citing the size of the cocaine hub’s processing capabilities.
“This place was churning out bricks and bricks of the stuff – they had everything to supply the country for months,” they said.
It is believed that Daniel Kinahan remains in Dubai, under intense pressure from the international police forces there.
Christy Kinahan Senior is now thought to be hiding out in the Harare area of Zimbabwe where he continues to conduct the KOCG’s seemingly legitimately property empire.
The $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the Kinahans is still active.
Assistant Commissioner Justin Kelly of Organised and Serious Crime has said the “operation and substantial seizure of cocaine has shown An Garda Síochána is determined to disrupt the distribution networks of organised groups who cause harm to our communities”.
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