A Dublin criminal regarded as a key figure in a crime gang that has occupied a prime position in Irish drug dealing since the demise of the Kinahan cartel’s Irish operation has been arrested at Dublin Airport.
The man, who is in his 40s and from west Dublin, was at the airport coming back into the country.
However, his arrest and detention arise as gardaí wanted to charge him with a new gang-related crime, following an investigation by the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB).*
Gardaí suspect he has become one of the most significant figures in Irish drug dealing over the last decade. Some of the largest drugs and cash seizures in the Republic during that period have been linked to his gang, known as the Family.
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The Irish Times understands he will face charges of directing an organised crime gang at a time when he also faces another legal process.
The Family gang has been the target of major Irish and international investigations in recent years, resulting in significant search-and-arrest operations last year, in 2024 and in 2022.
Those operations included the discovery of the gang’s alleged drugs distribution hub in Spain, where drugs were hidden in secret compartments in modified vehicles for smuggling to Ireland on car ferries.
The previous year, when the Australian police led a major international inquiry into the Ghost app, the Family gang was one of the main targets.
[ Gardaí carry out raids on leadership of drugs gang known as The FamilyOpens in new window ]
That app, run from Sydney, was being used by organised crime in different parts of the world in the belief messages sent on it could never be hacked by law enforcement. However, when the app was hacked, it was discovered Irish criminals were the most prolific users outside of Australia.
While gardaí moved in on people linked to the gang in Ireland at the time of the international Ghost app raids in 2024, a number of follow-on searches and arrests took place in Dublin last March. And the charges now facing the man arrested at Dublin Airport on Sunday arise from that investigation.
Garda Headquarters confirmed members of DOCB arrested a man in Dublin on Sunday as part of its ongoing investigations “targeting activities of an organised crime group in west Dublin”.
The Family gang has a long history of drug dealing in the Republic, initially in the heroin trade in Dublin. It has capitalised over the last decade on the fall of the Kinahan cartel’s Irish operation, once led by Liam Byrne, Crumlin, Dublin.
In the absence of the ‘Byrne organised crime group’ controlling the biggest supply of cocaine into the Republic, via the Kinahan cartel headquartered in Dubai, the Family gang rapidly expanded. It has become the biggest drug gang still based in Ireland, though many of its leading members are now facing serious criminal charges that could result in very lengthy prison sentences on conviction.
* This story was amended on Monday, January 26th
