One of Ireland’s biggest drugs gangs is sending up to €120million of dirty cash a year out of Ireland, it has emerged.
Sources have told the Mirror that gardai have intelligence that the Dublin mob – known as The Family – is laundering up to €10million in profits from drugs every month. And they revealed that the gang now rivals the Kinahan cartel for importance in Ireland.
A source said: “They are massive. They already have a huge operation and it is only going to get bigger.”
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Sources have told us the West Dublin mob, which got its nickname as it is led by two brothers, has taken advantage of the Garda crackdown on the Kinahan cartel to increase its activities all over the city.
And they said that they were now making so much money they had resorted to sending millions of euro out of the country every month so they can launder it overseas. One insider told us: “There is intelligence that they are moving up to €10million a month out of Ireland.
“That just shows you the scale of their operation. They are making more than that a month in profits.
“They keep some here and use some to buy more drugs, but that much is sent abroad for it to be laundered. They are making a fortune.”
And the sources revealed investigators believe the gang has learned from the mistakes of the cartel led by mobster Daniel Kinahan – which was severely weakened by gardai when it launched the war against the Hutch mob, a feud that has now left 18 men dead.
And they have also benefited from the international crackdown on the gang, which saw their leaders hit with sanctions and Daniel, Christopher and their father Christy hit with $5million bounties on their heads last April.
One source said the gang was keeping under the radar – because it wanted to concentrate on making money.
They added: “It is highly unlikely you will ever see [the bosses] bringing the media spotlight on themselves as Daniel and the other cartel leaders have done. They are too smart for that. They keep well under the radar and that’s the way they like it.”
One source told us the gang, which imports cannabis, cocaine and heroin, mostly shies away from confrontations – although it is suspected of involvement in a gun murder last year.
Investigators believe it played a role in the killing of rival Gary “The Canary” Carey, shot in the car park of a South Dublin hotel in June last year.
Carey, 40, was shot dead as he came out of the Hilton Hotel in Kilmainham’s gym – and lived for six weeks, before he succumbed to his wounds.
Sources say gardai believe Carey, who had survived two previous hits, was shot because he was trying to muscle in on operations run by The Family and associates of convicted criminal Derek “Dee Dee” O’Driscoll.
“They exist to make money, not to take on other crime groups,” one insider said.
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