Christy Kinahan
Christy 'the Dapper Don' Kinahan (born c1956) is an Irish drug dealer[1][2][3] with convictions for ecstasy and heroin smuggling.[4]
Early years
His father was a dairy firm manager and he grew up in Prison.[5]
He was jailed for crimes related to heroin in the 1980s and jailed for a ten-year sentence. Studied for two degrees in prison.[5] While inside, he quite famously refused early release as he found that the prison environment was a very suitable place to continue his studies. As well, while in prison he learned to speak both Spanish and Russian. Upon his release, he used his new language skills to set up drug routes into western Europe for Mexican and Colombian Cartels, and the Russian Mafia. Soon, he'd established an empire that saw him directly deal to the south of Dublin and the Irish countryside, while he controlled the drug routes in and out of much of Ireland and the UK. This was a profitable enterprise and by the time of the Kinahan-Hutch feud beginning in late 2015, the Kinahan gang was estimated to be worth in excess of €400 million.
He was raided by Spanish police in 2010 and spent time in jail there, though no charges were brought.[5] His ex-wife lived in Dublin and died in 2015.[5]
His son Daniel is a boxing promoter, lives in a villa in Guadalmina and may run the day-to-day aspects of his fathers' gang.[5] He was probably the main target of the Regency Hotel shooting.[5]
His son Christopher Kinahan Jnr. is also involved in boxing.[5] The father and sons were arrested in Spain in 2010 but no charges were brought.[5]
Other Associates
John Cunningham served 17 years for kidnapping Jennifer Guinness.[5]
Hutch-Kinahan Feud
Gary Hutch was suspected of being a police informant, so the Kinahans ordered him shot.[5] He was murdered in Málaga in late 2015. Gary Hutch was the nephew of 'Monk' Hutch, the second largest drug dealer in Dublin, and the Monk is said to have taken the murder very personally, refusing any attempt at a 'sit down' made by the Kinahans. In January 2016, in an event that received international media attention, hitmen working for the Monk dressed up as Gardaí before attacking a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in North Dublin. It is believed they were aiming for one of Christy Kinahan's right hand men who was in attendance at the weigh-in. The Kinahans responded quickly, with a string of assassinations across Ireland as they moved to dismantle the Monk's power base. Most high profile of these was the shooting dead of Eddie Hutch, brother of the Monk, who was shot dead in his own home in Dublin 3. The Kinahan gang is believed to have also used the Gang War as an excuse to go after the other main threat to their dominance in Ireland. They are linked to the murder of three members of the New IRA, a dissident Republican group operating out of West Belfast. Though the Hutch-Kinahan Feud still technically continues, most sources in the media imagine that Kinahan has categorically crushed the Hutch gang, and expect it to only be a matter of time before the Monk either has to go into exile or else face assassination. But sources have concluded that the Monk still has a large army of soldiers whether that be his own gang or dissident republicans at his disposal, ready to carry out any assassination of any Kinahan cartel members.
Other events
He is believed, by UK detectives, to have laundered drug dealing profits by funding 27 fixed horse races between December 2002 and August 2004. As a result of the alleged conspiracy, jockeys Kieren Fallon, Darren Williams and Fergal Lynch, faced criminal horse race-fixing charges at the Old Bailey.[6]
In March 2016 Julio Martinez, the chief prosecutor for the Marbella area, told El País that charges against Kinahan for money laundering were imminent.[7] Christy Kinehan already has convictions for money laundering in Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium.[7][8]
He is a suspect in six murders, including the father and uncle of Jamie Kavanagh.[1]
By February 2010 Kinahan was awaiting sentence in Belgium on money laundering charges.[2] Earlier that year, he was believed to have ordered the death of heroin dealer, Raymond Salinger, who was shot dead in a Dublin pub.[9]
On New Years Eve 2015, gunmen associated with Kinahan are believed to have targeted Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch at a pub in Lanzarote. Hutch had, however, already left the bar.[10]
See also
References
- ^ a b Lally, Conor (17 Feb 2016). "The six unsolved gun murders linked to the Kinahan cartel". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 Mar 2016.
- ^ a b Breen, Stephen, GANGSTERS' PARADISE News of the World 21 February 2010
- ^ BLOW TO CROOKS The Sun, 19 September 2009
- ^ Cheston, Paul. Police accused of incompetence and hiding 'timebomb' evidence, Evening Standard 7 December 2007
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Two veteran Irish criminals, one vicious feud, two cold-blooded assassinations. Who's who in the Gang War". Irish Independent. 14 Feb 2016. Retrieved 25 Mar 2016.
- ^ Cheston, Paul. Fallon race-fix trial collapses, Evening Standard 7 December 2007
- ^ a b Lally, Conor (7 Mar 2016). "Kinahan gang may face money-laundering charges". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 Mar 2016.
- ^ Lally, Conor (7 Feb 2016). "Who is the kingpin behind Irish-led cartel based in Spain?". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 Mar 2016.
- ^ Williams, Paul. Crime bros pay a price Too News of the World 11 Apr 2010
- ^ Emma McMenamy Failed hit on Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch sees locked-up henchmen of Kinahan gang switch allegiance, Irish Mirror, 10 January 2016, accessed 12 February 2016