Two suspected Kinahan gang members arrested ‘on way to hit’

Gardaí believe two men arrested in connection with a suspected gun murder attempt are key member of the Dublin-based gang with the Kinahan drugs cartel.

Detectives working on the case arrested two suspects, driving different cars, in west Dublin on Saturday afternoon.

A loaded Glock 9mm semi-automatic was recovered in one of the vehicles and one of the suspects was wearing gloves at the time.

The operation was led by the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and the suspects are being held under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State at Walkinstown and Sundrive Road Garda stations.

Gardaí believe the man with the gun was the would-be shooter and the other suspect was and accomplice who had aided him earlier in the day and would likely provide the getaway vehicle after the shooting.

The target of the gun attack is believed to have been a man linked to the Hutch side in the Kinahan-Hutch feud.

One theory being explored is that he was spotted watching the Ireland-Belgium European Championships game on Saturday afternoon in a pub that presented an opportunity for the Kinahan side of the feud.

Hastily arranged

Given the identities of the men - both of whom are close to key people in the Dublin-based wing of the Kinahan gang - gardaí believe a bit murder was underway and one that was perhaps hastily arranged.

Sources said the murder count in the feud would almost certainly have climbed to eight had the men not been stopped and the gun found.

Both of the men arrested are known to gardaí. One of the suspects was very close to David Byrne, the 33-year-old father of one from Crumlin, Dublin, who was shot dead in an attack at the Regency Hotel, Drumcondra, in February.

And the other arrested man is very close to another key member of the Kinahan gang’s Dublin unit.

There have been a large number of arrests since the murders began in the aftermath of Gary Hutch’s shooting dead by the Kinahan gang in Spain last year and some people are before the courts on feud-related charges.

The arrests in Dublin represent the first time that people so close to the gang’s leadership in Ireland have been caught in such circumstances.

The Kinahan gang is led from Spain by veteran Dublin drug dealer Christy Kinahan. Its Dublin-based unit, which distributes when they brought into the country, counted murdered David Byrne as one of its key members.

Recent violence

And it is Byrne’s associates in Dublin who have been driving much of the recent violence in the city, with the support of the wider international Kinahan gang.

One of the men arrested yesterday was detained and the load firearm recovered from his car when it was stopped on the Naas Rd at about 3pm.

And shortly after that strand of the operation, gardaí moved in and stopped the car the other man was driving in the Walkinstown area.