Gardaí hope Kinahan gang bank records will yield valuable evidence

Gardaí are hopeful a study of the transaction history of bank accounts linked to the Kinahan gang unearthed in recent days can offer insight into the recent workings of the gang.

They are also hopeful that a close examination of the foreign travel, phone and internet use of a key suspect being held last night can also prove of high evidential value.

The suspect in his 50s, who is from west Dublin but has been living in Co Kildare, is believed to be the Kinahan gang's manager of operations in Ireland.

While those Kinahan gang members engaged in the Kinahan-Hutch feud have been closely studied for years by the Garda, the middle-aged man has never come to the force’s attention for any form of organised crime.

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Detectives believe the man's clear criminal record and the fact that he has not been previously linked to gang leader Christy Kinahan in any way has been exploited by the international cartel for years.

Overseen logistics

The man is believed to have overseen logistics for the gang in Ireland, managed the facility raided on Tuesday and dealt with Kinahan personally about the gang’s activities in Ireland.

Gardaí are now reviewing his foreign travel to try and determine where he may have gone to meet Kinahan to update him on operations in Ireland during trips that would have gone unnoticed because of his low profile.

However, sources also said his presence in a warehouse in Rathcoole, Co Dublin, on Tuesday, when the Garda raided it, underlined the sophisticated operations of the gang and its ability to operate parts of its business unnoticed.

Detectives had the facility under surveillance for some time and waited for the suspect to go inside before raiding it on Tuesday.

And in a two-day search of the warehouse, as well as follow-up operations, they have found about €400,000 in cash, as well as records of a significant sum of money on deposit in back accounts, 15 firearms and about 1,300 rounds of ammunition.

When the premises on the Greenogue industrial estate near Rathcoole, Co Dublin, were raided, two other suspected Kinahan gang members were close by in a van.

Because they were not present at the scene, gardaí must now try to link them to the find in the warehouse, possibly via mobile phone traffic or using DNA evidence.

A fourth man was arrested at another location during one of the follow-up operations. They were still being held late Wednesday night in Dublin Garda stations under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.