Latest news with #KinahanCartel
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Book of evidence served on alleged Kinahan associate Sean McGovern over murder charge
Alleged Kinahan cartel figure Sean McGovern, who was extradited from Dubai earlier this year, has been served with a book of evidence relating to the murder of Noel 'Duck Egg' Kirwan. 'Voluminous' books of evidence relating to other organised crime charges are still pending, the Special Criminal Court heard on Monday. Mr McGovern (39), with a previous address at Kildare Road, Crumlin, Dublin 12, appeared in person before the three-judge court, having been transported from Portlaoise Prison. He is charged with the murder of Mr Kirwan on December 22nd, 2016, at St Ronan's Drive, Clondalkin, in Dublin. READ MORE Mr McGovern is also charged with directing the activities of a criminal organisation in connection with the same murder between October 20th, 2016, and December 22nd, 2016. He is charged with directing the activities of a criminal organisation in connection with the surveillance of James Gately in preparation for the commission of an indictable offence between October 17th, 2015, and April 6th, 2017. Another charge alleges that between October 20th and December 22nd, 2016, he contributed to or participated in activity intending or being reckless as to whether such activity would facilitate a criminal organisation in the murder of Mr Kirwan. He faces a similar charge of facilitating a criminal organisation in a conspiracy to murder Mr Gately. The book of evidence relating to the Kirwan murder was served on the accused on Monday morning, defence counsel Keith Spencer said. A second book of evidence will be served in October via electronic means. Mr Spencer forms part of a new legal team representing the accused after Mr McGovern dismissed his previous team last month. Counsel reiterated the defence's intention to challenge the lawfulness of Mr McGovern's extradition from Dubai last May. He said this challenge may take place before the Special Criminal Court or another court. The accused has been attempting to get information on the extradition from a number of State bodies, including the Department of Justice and the Director of Public Prosecutions, counsel said. He said they have 'encountered a number of roadblocks to getting the information we require'. The challenge to the extradition cannot take place until this information is received and the serving of a book of evidence should not be read as an acquiesce to the lawfulness of the process, Mr Spencer said. Ms Justice Karen O'Connor set a further hearing date for October 7th, 2025.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
Drugs kingpin who ran UK arm of Kinahan Cartel must pay back £1m of his criminal fortune after making £12m from international drugs racket
A drugs kingpin who ran the UK arm of the 'Kinahan Cartel' has been given three months to pay more than £1million of his criminal earnings. Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh, 57, was jailed for 21 years at Ipswich Crown Court in March 2022 after he pleaded guilty to conspiring to import class A and B drugs and money laundering offences in July 2020. The same court today concluded that the Irish national made an eye-watering £12,235,047 from the major drug importation conspiracy. It included a half share in his £1million pile in Tamworth, which was fitted with bullet proof windows, equity in a property in Majorca, cash in banks and made from rents, designer watches and clothing, a family holiday to Cancun and about £40,000 seized by police during the investigation. The Kinahan drugs operation is said to be run by Irish man Christy 'Dapper Don' Kinahan, 68, and his two sons Daniel, 48, and Christopher Jr, 44, who are based in Dubai. In April 2022 the US Department of State placed $5million rewards for information that leads to their arrest and prosecution, branding them the heads of a major international drugs cartel. Kavanagh's henchmen Gary 'Flash' Vickery, 42, and Daniel Canning were jailed for 20 years (reduced to 18 years on appeal) and 19 years and six months, respectively. Canning's sentence included five years for possession of a firearm to be served concurrently. Judge Martyn Levett, who sentenced the three and heard the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) case, accepted that financial investigations by the police and CPS had found that the recoverable amount identified from Kavanagh's existing assets is £1,123,096, which he was ordered to pay within three months or face further time in prison. Today he made POCA orders against Kavanagh and Vickery giving them each the same time to pay the money or face extra prison time. Separately, Vickery was found to have benefited to a total amount of £10,966,619, but only £109,312 was found to be available. He was also given three months to pay or face an extended sentence. The court heard Vickery's assets were assessed from money in bank accounts, a half share in a property in Lanzarote, where he was extradited from, vehicles, money spent on a wedding, holiday deposits, watches and a boat. Kavanagh's home was jointly purchased with his wife, Joanne, sister of Kinahan associate Liam Byrne. The couple purchased the luxury pad for £565,000 after Kavanagh's Dublin home was earlier seized by the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in Ireland. There is no suggestion Mrs Kavanagh had any involvement in or knowledge of her husband's criminal activities. Other assets that were seized during a January 2019 raid on the address include designer goods estimated at £500,000, including around 100 pairs of designer shoes, 120 handbags, 36 pairs of Armani jeans, Hugo Boss suits, Canada Goose and Moncler jackets as well as flashy watches and jewellery. The £40,000 cash was also found stuffed in a sofa and in Moschino, Gucci and Chanel handbags. Before being extradited to the UK from Lanzarote in November 2021, Vickery had a limited-edition Sunseeker Superhawk power boat, which had featured in the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. Vickery and his wife Nicola O'Connor, who had no involvement in or knowledge of her husband's criminal activities, were living in a stunning gated villa in Macher on the island. On January 12, 2019, Kavanagh was arrested at Birmingham Airport as he returned from a holiday in Mexico. He was jailed at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court in September 2019 for three years for possessing a 10,000-volt stun gun disguised as a torch, which was found with other weapons during the raid on the house. In August 2023, Kavanagh, and Liam Byrne, 44, and Shaun Kent, 39, from Liverpool, were charged with firearms offences in connection with an informant plot which was hatched while the former was in jail over the stun gun conviction. Kavanagh later admitted at the Old Bailey that he had plotted to fool the NCA by saying in May 2021 that he had intelligence about where a stash of weapons from Holland was hidden buried in a field in Newry, Northern Ireland, in the hope of getting a lighter sentence in the drugs conspiracy case. The firearms: seven machine guns, three automatic handguns, and an assault rifle and ammunition, were recovered by police. The men had discussed the plot on the encrypted mobile phone system EncroChat, which was infiltrated by French police in April 2020, meaning the NCA had access to the messages. In October 2024 Kavanagh was sentenced to six years in prison to be served consecutively to his 21-year sentence. Byrne was sentenced to five years while Kent received six years. Investigations found Canning only has 16 euros and 19 cents left in an Ulster Bank account in Ireland. The CPS argued that he should be liable for the full amount of the drugs assessed at about £10.4million, but his defence barrister Richard Craven Furlong argued he had a lesser role than Kavanagh and Vickery and had no shareholding in any of the drugs. Canning's defence said he should only be held liable for various transactions into his various bank accounts that totalled around £145,000, about £80,000 of which he used to pay the rent on a unit where some of the drugs were taken. Mr Furlong said he was not disputing that he played a leading role in the conspiracy, but that he had no ownership of the drugs or any shareholding in the 'Kavanagh Cooperative'. Judge Levett said there was a 'huge discrepancy' between the amounts. The CPS argued due to the scale of the conspiracy involving 'multiple importations' he should be found liable for the full amount. Canning's POCA case was adjourned for further argument about Canning's assets. The case continues.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh: Kinahan crime boss ordered to pay back £1.1m
The UK boss of the notorious Kinahan crime empire has been ordered to pay back more than £1.1m - or face another 12 years in jail. Thomas "Bomber" Kavanagh, 57, was jailed for 21 years in March 2022 for masterminding a £30m cocaine and cannabis smuggling operation. He was last year jailed for another six years after orchestrating a plot while on remand to dupe authorities into handing him a lighter sentence by leading National Crime Agency officers to a weapons stash. Kavanagh is believed to have made around £12.2m from the drugs plot but has been ordered to pay back £1,123,097 in recoverable assets withing three months or face 12 more years in prison. The figure includes a 50% share of his gated property in Tamworth, Staffordshire, which had reinforced doors and bulletproof glass. It also includes money from the sale of other UK properties and a villa in Spain, as well as £150,000 worth of high-end bags, clothes and accessories. Another high-ranking member of the gang, Gary Vickery, 43, who was jailed for 20 years over the drugs plot, was ordered to pay back almost £110,000 or face another two years in jail. At previous hearings at Ipswich Crown Court he was ordered to forfeit an Audemars Piguet watch worth £75,000 and more than 100,000 euros. The NCA have described Kavanagh as the "top man" in the UK for the Irish Kinahan cartel, which has been ranked alongside the Italian mafia with estimated assets worth more than $1bn (around £800m). Christy Kinahan, 68, known as the "Dapper Don" is suspected of building a sprawling international drug empire, stretching across South America, Europe and the Middle East, and allegedly groomed his sons Daniel and Christy Jr to become fellow leaders. In April 2022, the US government offered a for information leading to their arrest or conviction. The US Treasury also said the group has "joined the ranks of the Camorra", an Italian mafia organisation, as they imposed sanctions on the cartel. Kay Mellor, NCA head of operations HQ, said: "Thomas Kavanagh was the head of the UK's arm of the Kinahan organised crime group, responsible for the importation and distribution of drugs and firearms, making millions of pounds in the process. "He and his gang believed they were untouchable, but that proved to be their downfall. "Kavanagh and Vickery will be behind bars for many years to come and now have to pay back more than £1 million to the state." Adrian Foster, chief Crown prosecutor, said described the pair as "dangerous criminals in the organised gang world", responsible for importing millions of pounds worth of drugs on an "industrial scale". "This successful £1m confiscation order demonstrates the prosecution team's commitment to work across borders to strip organised criminals of their illegal gains," he added.
Sky News
4 days ago
- Sky News
Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh: Kinahan crime boss ordered to pay back £1.1m
The UK boss of the notorious Kinahan crime empire has been ordered to pay back more than £1.1m - or face another 12 years in jail. Thomas "Bomber" Kavanagh, 57, was jailed for 21 years in March 2022 for masterminding a £30m cocaine and cannabis smuggling operation. He was last year jailed for another six years after orchestrating a plot while on remand to dupe authorities into handing him a lighter sentence by leading National Crime Agency officers to a weapons stash. Kavanagh is believed to have made around £12.2m from the drugs plot but has been ordered to pay back £1,123,097 in recoverable assets withing three months or face 12 more years in prison. The figure includes a 50% share of his gated property in Tamworth, Staffordshire, which had reinforced doors and bulletproof glass. It also includes money from the sale of other UK properties and a villa in Spain, as well as £150,000 worth of high-end bags, clothes and accessories. Another high-ranking member of the gang, Gary Vickery, 43, who was jailed for 20 years over the drugs plot, was ordered to pay back almost £110,000 or face another two years in jail. At previous hearings at Ipswich Crown Court he was ordered to forfeit an Audemars Piguet watch worth £75,000 and more than 100,000 euros. The NCA have described Kavanagh as the "top man" in the UK for the Irish Kinahan cartel, which has been ranked alongside the Italian mafia with estimated assets worth more than $1bn (around £800m). Christy Kinahan, 68, known as the "Dapper Don" is suspected of building a sprawling international drug empire, stretching across South America, Europe and the Middle East, and allegedly groomed his sons Daniel and Christy Jr to become fellow leaders. In April 2022, the US government offered a $5m (£3.8m) reward for information leading to their arrest or conviction. The US Treasury also said the group has "joined the ranks of the Camorra", an Italian mafia organisation, as they imposed sanctions on the cartel. Kay Mellor, NCA head of operations HQ, said: "Thomas Kavanagh was the head of the UK's arm of the Kinahan organised crime group, responsible for the importation and distribution of drugs and firearms, making millions of pounds in the process. "He and his gang believed they were untouchable, but that proved to be their downfall. "Kavanagh and Vickery will be behind bars for many years to come and now have to pay back more than £1 million to the state." Adrian Foster, chief Crown prosecutor, said described the pair as "dangerous criminals in the organised gang world", responsible for importing millions of pounds worth of drugs on an "industrial scale". "This successful £1m confiscation order demonstrates the prosecution team's commitment to work across borders to strip organised criminals of their illegal gains," he added.
Sunday World
17-07-2025
- Sunday World
Face of drug lord nicknamed ‘Thanos' arrested in Kinahan smuggling network sting
Opinder Singh Sian is currently in custody in Nevada after being charged in connection with a cystal meth smuggling plot This is the Canadian gangster arrested in the US as part of a global sting operation targeting a drugs trafficking network with links to the Kinahan Cartel. Opinder Singh Sian is currently in custody in Nevada after being charged in connection with a plot to ship a massive quantity of methamphetamine into Australia, Sian was unaware that he had been dealing with an undercover agent from the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), who had posed as criminal with contacts in a port in California, while arranging the drugs deal. According to evidence from the DEA, Sian told the undercover agent that he worked with 'Irish organized crime, specifically, the Kinahan family, Italian organized crime, and other Canadian organized crime groups.' The Sunday World can reveal that Sian has a long history of ties to organised crime groups based in Canada and Mexico. Known by the nickname Thanos - a notorious villain in the the Marvel's Avengers series – Sian was believed to be a key associate of the Brothers Keepers gang in Canada. Based in British Columbia, a province on Canada's west coast. the Brothers Keepers are believed to be one of the country's most "prominent and violent" organized crime gangs. According to reports, the Brothers Keepers gang acts as a major 'Canadian proxy' to the notorious Sinaloa cartel in Mexico. The mob are heavily involved in drugs trafficking and have links to the Hells Angels and Wolfpack biker gangs. File image, Getty Images. Reports say Sian was never a 'signed-up' member of the Brothers Keepers and is suspected as acting as broker for the gang. According to the Vancouver Sun, Sian was regularly stopped in cars with with other gangsters by Canadian police and has criminal convictions for careless use of a firearm and obstruction of a peace officer date to 2007. The Canadian newspaper details how Sian was also refused permission in 2015 to bring in a woman in from India to get married after the immigration appeal board ruled it was a sham marriage. Officials claimed Sian's proposed bride did not know he had a criminal record or had previously survived an attempted gangland hit. 'This background is particularly relevant to this appeal because the applicant was not aware of the appellant's criminal history, nor the shooting, nor his work experience at the time of marriage. The panel finds that this is very important information that would be expected to be shared by two persons entering into a genuine relationship,' the immigration board ruled, according to reports in the Vancouver Sun. Read more Episode 1098: Kinahan Cartel smuggling network exposed in undercover sting operation In 2008, Sian was wounded in a shooting in that left his friend Gurpreet Sidhu dead and he survived another bid on his life in 2011. British Columbia has recently been the focus of a number of high profile investigations into the drugs trade – including an international operations targeting the network of ex-Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding. 'Vancouver is the centre of gravity for hybrid warfare for transnational organized crime in North America,' Scott McGregor, a former military intelligence operator, told Global News following Sian's arrest. 'One of my colleagues in D.C. mentioned that it was a cross between Dubai and Miami.' Last month, Sian was arrested in Nevada following a three year operation into his smuggling network by the DEA. The operation began when the DEA recruited an informant – known only by the code name 'Queen' – in Turkey in June 2022. Queen then forged ties with Sian, who was suspected of moving shipments of drugs through ports across the world. As part of an elaborate sting, Queen introduced Sian to an undercover DEA agent who offered to facilitate large drug shipments through the Port of Long Beach in the US. The DEA claim Queen, Sian and the undercover agent met face-to-face at a restaurant in Manhattan Beach, California, in March 2023. During that meeting, they struck a deal to traffic methamphetamine to Australia. Daniel Kinahan However instead of smuggling the drugs, the DEA put in place an elaborate sting operation where agents created a staged shipment of methamphetamine through a safehouse in Pomona, California. The DEA intercepted the original drugs shipment arranged by Sian and substituted them with a decoy batch which was then sent onto Australia. Using a GPS-tracked, Australian police were able to follow the container when it arrived to a suspected stash house in Sydney. DEA agents were able to identify multiple aliases used by figures involved in the network which used encrypted apps to communicate and stretched from Dubai to Istanbul. Sian's arrest has also been big news in India where he is accused of having links to shadowy Pakistani security services agents involved with rogue Chinese drug suppliers. India's News18 reported that Sian was a "critical intermediary" between Pakistani agents and Chinese suppliers, who exploit Canada's "permissive legal and political environment" to traffic synthetic opioids. The channel claimed Indian agencies have identified 40 Indo-Canadians who support this network's operations in Punjab, Delhi and Kashmir. According to the report, Indian intelligence sources have flagged the Kinahan cartel as playing a "role in laundering Canadian drug proceeds.' Last month, a Nevada judge ordered Sian held in custody pending his transfer to California saying that his criminal gang 'is alleged to have ties to international hitmen.' None of the other people named in the affidavit by US officials are facing charges at this time.
