Cartel king Daniel Kinahan has been dealt another hammer blow – after Spanish cops nabbed his key lieutenant Liam Byrne.
Sources have told The Irish Mirror that investigators believe the arrest of Byrne on a Spanish sun isle on Sunday puts even more pressure on Kinahan – who is himself at the centre of an international crackdown. "This is the last thing Kinahan needs," a source told The Irish Mirror.
"Byrne was one of his main men. His arrest will leave Kinahan with even more problems." We have been told that gardai believe Dubliner Byrne (42) played a key role in Kinahan’s worldwide crime and drugs gang – and his arrest has seriously damaged the cartel.
Read more: Kinahan gang boss Liam Byrne arrested in Spain while on secret trip
Sources have told us that investigators suspect that Byrne, from Crumlin in south Dublin, has been running Kinahan’s massive European drugs scam for more than four years. He is understood to have taken on the position in January 2019 – after his brother-in-law Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was arrested in Birmingham Airport.
That arrest operation against Kavanagh (55) was led by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency – the same unit that helped Spanish cops arrest Byrne in Majorca on Sunday. Kavanagh was a senior leader of the Kinahan cartel and helped smuggle millions of euros of cocaine and other drugs in Ireland and Britain for the outfit.
The position was central to the operation and when Kavanagh was arrested – and later jailed for 21 years for drugs offences – Kinahan moved immediately to replace him with Byrne.
Byrne, whose brother David was shot dead in the Regency Airport Hotel attack in north Dublin in February 2016 by the Hutch mob, was living near Birmingham at the time – and that, along with his long standing friendship with Kinahan, made it inevitable he would take over the post, Byrne had fled Ireland almost three years earlier – after gardai began a major crackdown against him in his native Dublin.
The operation, that began in March 2016, saw the Criminal Assets Bureau target him – including a car business he was involved in in south west Dublin. The crackdown came as the Kinahan cartel launched an onslaught against the Hutch gang following the gun attack the previous month on the Regency Airport Hotel in Dublin that saw Liam Byrne’s brother David (34) shot dead.
That murder devastated Byrne, who was later seen in tears as he carried his brother’s coffin at his gangland funeral in central Dublin. Gardai also raided his home, which was actually owned by his sister Maria, in Raleigh Square, Crumlin – and later seized it.
There was a lengthy High Court wrangle aimed at what CAB said was the Byrne Organised Crime Gang - with Liam its leader. Some 46 assets were surrendered in 2017 and 2018 - but the decision to hand over 2 Raleigh Square was only made in February of 2019.
The house was a key target of the March 2016 CAB raids - and officers established that some €750,000 had been spent renovating it. That is on top of €250,000 spent on its purchase.
Officers discovered an indoor bar with 20 bottles of Dom Perignon champagne, a Jacuzzi, reinforced doors and state of the art CCTV systems in the three-bedroom home – as well as a panic room.
Byrne gave up the house and was already living in England when it was handed to CAB.
He is understood to have become a key cog in the Kinahan machine since 2019 – and experts believe his arrest will devastate the cartel.
"Kinahan will have to get someone to run the European business for him now, and that won’t be easy," a source said.
The arrest of Byrne comes as Kinahan (45) is trying to save his own skin – after American authorities targeted him last year.
The US Treasury sanctioned him, his father Christy (66) and brother Christopher (43) – and accused them all of being heavily involved in the international drugs trade.
The trio had bounties of $5 million put on their heads, were placed on a US no-fly list and had their assets frozen in America and Dubai, the nerve centre of their operation.
Gardai and UK and American cops are now working to have Kinahan brought to one of the countries to be charged with organised crime offences that could see them locked up for life, if they are convicted.
Some reports say the Kinahans are in Iran, or another part of the Middle East – but others say they are still in Dubai.
But sources have told us wherever they are, the noose is tightening around them – and they will soon suffer the same fate as Liam Byrne.
"It is only a matter of time," one source said.
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