18-05-2025
Fresh ‘overhaul' probe of drug gang The Family's financial web as ‘brute' gang leader stays under radar in Dublin estate
THE Criminal Assets Bureau is scrutinising a forensic accountant's report into the finances of Ireland's top drug trafficking gang, we can reveal.
Pressure continues to mount on The Family mob, while specialist gardai press on hammering the
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Cops lift a member of The Family mob
Credit: Garda Press Office Handout
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Members of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB)
Credit: Garda Press Office Handout
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Police nab suspected drug traffickers
Credit: Europol
But despite repeated blows at the hands of the Garda National Drugs and Organised
However, investigators suspect that the
The GNDOCB quizzed a number of the life-long drug dealers for directing the activities of an organised crime gang following a series of raids in late March.
It came on the back of a major international investigation, which saw the takedown of the encrypted Ghost network — used by senior members of The Family to organise millions of euro worth of cocaine and heroin shipments from
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The mob has dominated Ireland's cocaine market since the
And they continue their trade with heroin, which they have been doing for over two decades.
But investigators continue to plough on in their investigations, with
The Irish Sun on Sunday has learned the bureau is examining The Family's
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A source told The Irish Sun on Sunday: 'When you're dealing with a transnational organised crime gang like this, which is well-structured in a way to protect those at the very top of it, every possible avenue to tackle them has to be taken.
'That's what is happening here. And the overall investigation into The Family has made huge strides in the last 18 months.
Moment US authorities announce they're offering a $5m bounty for information about Daniel Kinahan
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'It takes massive resources and a prolonged period of time to unravel these organisations.
GHOST NETWORK TAKEDOWN
'But with the Ghost network takedown and other work put in so far in terms of various seizures, establishing how the gang operate their money laundering side of the business and other various factors, gardai have made huge progress.'
The beefed-up leader of The Family once shied away from violence — because of the heat it drew to his business from gardai.
The change of tack in adding murder and brute force to its arsenal to stay on top of the underworld industry in recent years is how they've placed themselves as the GNDOCB's number one target.
Just before last Christmas, its associates were intercepted on their way to kill a close associate of murder victim Cormac Berkeley, who the gang took out in 2022.
After the leader was quizzed by gardai this year, he is suspected of ordering an arson attack on vehicles linked to a man who was allegedly caught transporting millions of euro worth of his cocaine.
STAYING UNDER THE RADAR
Such violence and intimidation, which has only spurred gardai on further to take the gang down, has placed even more media attention on the gang leader.
He, unlike cartel leader
He lives in a modest semi on an estate in
Another source said: 'This guy is a brute and dangerous. He hates the attention on him and his gang because it affects business.
'But greed and his need to assert power put him in that situation.' As part of the investigation, gardai believe he had a hands-on role in directing and overseeing at least nine drug trafficking and money laundering operations last year.
When he was quizzed in March, his two brothers who sit directly below him in the group, two key facilitators and a man who stored drugs on his behalf were also lifted.
One of the associates is the mob's tech guru, in his 40s from
MILLIONS WORTH OF COCAINE
Another is their head of logistics in Ireland, a man said to be in his 60s from
After Europol disabled Ghost, detectives here seized €22million worth of cocaine and hundreds of thousands in cash — directly linked to The Family.
Spanish police have also lifted 20 associates linked to The Family over the past 12 months and seized items to the value of over €1million.
Those associated with The Family who have been jailed include Paul Bourke, 56, from
Another is Hungarian pilot Zoltan Nemeth, 63, who flew €8.4million of heroin into Ireland in 2023.
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Irish and Spanish law enforcement authorities took decisive action against one of Ireland's high-risk criminal networks
Credit: Europol
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Daniel Kinahan
Credit: The Sun
