Latest news with #Vickery
Irish Post
5 days ago
- Irish Post
Head of Kinahan gang in Britain ordered to pay £1.1m or face extra 12-year sentence
THE HEAD of the Kinahan gang in Britain has been ordered to pay more than £1m or face an extra 12 years in prison. Irishman Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh, 57, was jailed for 21 years in March 2022 for orchestrating the importation of multi-million-pound drug shipments with a street value of around £30m. Two years later, he was handed an additional sentence after admitting firearms offences. Kavanagh has now been ordered to stump up more than £1.1m following a Proceeds of Crime Act investigation led by the National Crime Agency (NCA). Another high-ranking member of the gang, 43-year-old Gary Vickery, has been ordered to pay back £109,312.90 within three months or face another two years in prison. "We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to target, disrupt and dismantle organised crime groups, deprive them of their assets and ensure they face justice," said Kay Mellor, Head of Operations HQ at the NCA. Fortified mansion Vickery was arrested in October 2017 after NCA officers seized 15kg of cocaine and more than 220kg of cannabis found inside a six-tonne industrial tarmac removal machine in Dover. Subsequent investigations showed Kavanagh was heading up the criminal enterprise, and he was arrested at Birmingham airport as he returned from holiday in January 2019. Following his sentencing, NCA investigators began looking into the gang's finances and assets for seizure under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Officers estimated that Kavanagh's criminal profits were in the region £12.2m, but recoverable assets amounted to £1,123,096.84. This included his 50 per cent share of his fortified family mansion in Tamworth, Staffordshire, money from the sale of various other properties in Britain and a villa in Spain, and approximately £150,000 of high-end bags, clothes and accessories which were discovered when his house was searched following his initial arrest in 2019. Vickery, originally from Dublin, was also subject to the Proceeds of Crime Act hearing. At previous hearings, orders were made to forfeit an Audemars Piguet watch worth £75,000, as well as just over €100,000 that was seized from a hotel room when Vickery was arrested. In October 2024, Kavanagh admitted additional firearms offences and perverting the course of justice after NCA officers uncovered a plan that Kavanagh hoped would reduce his prison sentence. Kavanagh directed associates Shaun Kent and Liam Byrne to purchase firearms and ammunition and bury them so he could reveal their whereabouts to NCA investigators. All three were jailed for a total of 17 years, with Kavanagh's six years to be served on top of his 21-year sentence. 'Untouchable' "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," added Ms Mellor. "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 £1m to the state." See More: Kinahan Organised Crime Group, Thomas Kavanagh
RTÉ News
6 days ago
- RTÉ News
Kinahan boss in UK ordered to pay £1.1m to authorities or face more jail time
The head of the Kinahan organised crime group in the UK has been ordered to pay more than £1.1 million to authorities in the UK which was deemed to be the proceeds of crime or face an additional 12 years in prison. Thomas Kavanagh, aged 57, was jailed for 21 years in March 2022 for presiding over the importation of over £30 million worth of cocaine and cannabis in a year. Kavanagh, who is originally from Dublin, also admitted being involved in the illegal trafficking of firearms and money laundering. The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) subsequently began an investigation into the Kinahan crime group's finances and assets. The investigation estimated Kavanagh's criminal profits to be in the region of £12.2 million with recoverable assets amounting to over £1.1 million. The assets included a 50% share in what the NCA described as Kavanagh's "fortified family mansion" in Tamworth in England. Money from the sale of other properties in the UK and Spain along with £150,000 worth of "high-end bags, clothes and accessories", which were seized during a search of Kavanagh's house, were also deemed to be part of his assets. Kavanagh has been told he has three months to pay the sum of £1.1 million or face another 12 years in prison. Another senior figure in the Kinahan organised crime group, Gary Vickery, was also subject to a proceeds of crime investigation. He has been ordered to pay over £109,000 within three months or face another two years in prison. Vickery, aged 43, was arrested in October 2017 following the seizures of 15kg of cocaine and more than 220kg of cannabis which was found inside a six-tonne industrial tarmac removal machine in Dover. Vickery, originally from Dublin, is currently serving a 20-year sentence. Head of Operations HQ at the NCA Kay Mellor said Thomas Kavanagh 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," she said. UK Chief Crown Prosecutor Adrian Foster said Kavanagh and Vickery are "dangerous criminals in the organised gang world, importing millions of pounds worth of dangerous drugs on an industrial scale to the UK". "This successful £1 million Confiscation Order demonstrates the prosecution team's commitment to work across borders to strip organised criminals of their illegal gains. "We continue to pursue the proceeds of crime robustly and will return them back to court to serve an additional sentence of imprisonment if they fail to pay their orders," Mr Foster said.
Sunday World
04-07-2025
- Sunday World
Kinahan cartel chief Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh could be stripped of fortified mansion
Kavanagh's £1 million fortified UK mansion, which was fitted with bullet roof windows, has been placed under a court freezing order. Kinahan Cartel heavyweight Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh could be stripped of his fortified UK mansion and hundreds of thousands of pounds of other assets later this month when a Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation hearing finally takes place. Kavanagh, 57, who headed UK operations for the mob and cartel lieutenant 'Flash' Gary Vickery 42 face the legal proceedings later this month at Ipswich Crown Court where they were both convicted of conspiring to import class A and B drugs and money laundering offences in March 2022 over a €36m drug smuggling racket. The case is set to be heard at the court on July 24. Kavanagh's £1 million pile in Tamworth, which was fitted with bullet proof windows, has been placed under a court freezing order, which prevents its sale with approval from the CPS, since April 2020 as revealed by the Sunday World last September. His wife, Joanne, sister of notorious Kinahan associate Liam Byrne, who is joint owner of the property, is also prevented from selling her interest in it under the order. The couple jointly purchased the luxury pad for £565,000 after his Dublin home was earlier seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in Ireland. Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh. Photo: National Crime Agency There is no suggestion she 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. It included about one hundred pairs of designer shoes, 120 handbags, 36 pairs of Armani jeans, Hugo Boss suits, Canada Goose and Moncler jackets and expensive watches and jewellery. About £40,000 cash was also found stuffed in a sofa and in Moschino, Gucci and Chanel handbags. National Crime Agency investigators, together with the CPS, will have been trying to establish any other assets held by Kavanagh and Vickery. This will include looking at spending on high-end designer store cards believed to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds in the case of Kavanagh and the dealings of his former car sales business TK Motors Birmingham. They are also likely to have looked at any foreign assets held by the pair. Kavanagh is thought to have invested with others in property and businesses in Majorca, where he is understood to have owned a stunning villa, and Ibiza, where he and Byrne are understood to have invested in property and businesses. 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 plus other luxury boats, including a private yacht. He was also investing in the local pleasure cruiser industry. 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, and renting other properties. Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 4th Vickery had two UK-registered limited companies which were registered to an address in Solihull, near Birmingham. Vickery Services Limited, which was recorded as being involved in 'temporary employment agency activities', and vehicle sales firm Sigma Cars and Commercials, were both forcibly struck off the Companies House register in January 2021 and March 2022 respectively. The confiscation proceedings have been delayed by a series of criminal prosecutions. On January 12 2019 Kavanagh was arrested at Birmingham airport as he returned from a holiday in Mexico. In September 2019 he was jailed at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court 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 July 2020 Kavanagh, Vickery and Canning pleaded guilty to major drugs importation and money-laundering offences at Ipswich Crown Court. Due to major discussions over their basis of plea, and Kavanagh pretending to become an NCA informant, the three were not sentenced until March 2022. Judge Martyn Levett sentenced Kavanagh to 21 years, Vickery to 20 years and Canning to 19 years and six months. 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, but 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 twenty-one year sentence. Byrne was sentenced to five years while Kent got six years in prison. It is not clear yet if Canning will face a confiscation hearing in connection with his role in the drugs conspiracy. The NCA has been asked.
India Gazette
30-05-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
"It'll be mutually beneficial," former US official on trade negotiation with India; warns Trump administration on "bullying approach"
South Carolina [US], May 30 (ANI): Former US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development, Ray Vickery on Thursday [local time] said that a trade agreement between India and US will be mutually beneficial if they will be able to lower tariffs but warned Donald Trump administration over its 'bullying approach' of reciprocal tariffs. Speaking to ANI, Vickery said, 'It'll be mutually beneficial to be able to lower tariff and non-tariff barriers. In Trump, 1.0, there was a negotiation which came close to getting a freer trade, not a free trade arrangement between the United States and India. One hopes that that would happen, but it's not going to happen with this bullying approach, which the Trump administration has indicated, or indeed this so-called reciprocal tariff across the Board.' A US team is scheduled to visit India on June 5-6 for the next round of negotiations on the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between both countries. Additionally, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal has suggested that the talks for a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the United States are on track. Vickery also spoke with ANI on Donald Trump's repeated claims of brokering cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan and said that the Trump administration wants to 'take credit for anything that it considers to be favourable to them.' 'The Trump administration wants to take credit for anything that it considers to be favourable to them, to President Trump, and a win. I have no doubt that the role of the United States in that ceasefire has been exaggerated. Indeed, the Indian government has indicated as much by not giving the kind of credit to President Trump and his administration that is being claimed,' he said. Donald Trump has made repeated claims that the US offered both countries 'a lot of trade' to put an end to the conflict, which started after the Pahalgam terror attack. India destroyed nine terror infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir under Operation Sindoor. Vickery suggested that it is unfair to economic relations as a 'bullying tactic' for cessation of hostilities, and lauded India for keeping the emphasis on international terrorism 'There is no question in my mind that security and economic considerations are intimately connected. That doesn't mean you use, as President Trump has indicated, Economic relations as a bullying tactic for a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, or for any other reason, but they are related in terms of how nations ultimately treat each other. In the case of the ceasefire, I think India is quite right in keeping the emphasis on international terrorism,' he said. India has emphasised that the militaries of the two nations negotiated directly and resolved the conflict through an agreement and understanding for a cessation of fire and military action. Additionally, Vickery expressed concerns about the ongoing threat of terrorism on the Indian subcontinent. In his statement, Vickery highlighted the need for a coordinated and strong approach to tackle terrorism in the region. 'In the past few years, we've kind of put aside the threat of international terrorism because it has been dampened down. But the incident of Pahalgam and the murder of 26 Indians and one Nepali citizen on a religious basis shows that terrorism, unfortunately, is alive and well on the Indian subcontinent, and it takes a very coordinated and strong approach to be able to do so.' Vickery said. Vickery also commented on the role of the United States in the region, particularly in relation to Pakistan. 'Did the United States and, particularly, Secretary Rubio, provide an off-ramp for Pakistan? Yes. I think that they did,' he stated. The former official emphasized the importance of working closely with India to combat international terrorism. 'There is an interest across the board and what it takes is working with India on a sustained basis, not a hyphenated basis, not looking at Pakistan and India, some sort of equivalences in the equation, but working with India particularly to be able to damp down international terrorism and that sometimes requires harsh measures,' he said. Vickery drew parallels with the experiences of the United States in Afghanistan and Israel in Gaza, stating that a 'generalised war approach' to eliminating radical Islamic terrorism is ineffective. 'The United States experience, particularly in Afghanistan, and the Israeli experience in Gaza show that the generalised war approach to damping down or eliminating radical Islamic terrorism does not work,' he said. (ANI)
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hardware store in Cobb County celebrating 75 years of business, but tariffs ‘personal' for owner
A hardware store in Cobb County is celebrating 75 years of serving the community this fall. But this year, the owner of Smyrna business Vickery Hardware says it's anything but business as usual. Susan Harlan, who owns Vickery, told Channel 2's Lori Wilson she hopes her company can ride out the tariffs and get back to a good economy. 'We meet you at the door, and we try to give the best customer service we can,' Harlan said. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] That's why to her, the tariffs on products she imports from China is personal. 'We are holding a line on our prices, as much as we can,' Harlan said. She said her store has seen its share of ups and downs ,they even survived Home Depot. 'Yeah, there were some tough years, but we did,' Harlan said. TRENDING STORIES: Narcan now widely available in Georgia, free or discounted at some locations Video of fight involving teacher at DeKalb school being used in investigation 2 women stole nearly $500,000 from their former job, Dunwoody police say The store survived by shifting its focus to sell smaller specialty items. Harlan told Channel 2 Action News that she's been warned by her suppliers to stock up, but with a 10,000 foot store, there's not much room for that. Instead, Harlan spends a lot of time these days analyzing the cost of every item and her narrowing margins. 'I have to stay in business, but I want my customers to be able to buy things as reasonably as they can too,' Harlan said. In the meantime, she says service is what keeps her business busy. 'We're gonna help you solve your problem, if you come to us with a leaking drain, we know what that is, we know what you need to fix it,' Harlan said. 'We can help you get on your way.' [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
