Gardaí expect Gerry 'the Monk' Hutch to disappear from the public eye over the coming days and flee to his Lanzarote bolthole.
It is understood the crime boss has at least three different properties on the holiday island and all are heavily fortified.
Detectives say he also has a network on the ground that will give him protection and it would be very difficult for the rival Kinahan cartel to assassinate him there.
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He will have no problem getting back to the island since he has never come to the attention of the local Spanish police, is an official Spanish resident and pays his taxes there.
The Monk's main home is not far from the resort of Puerto del Carmen popular with thousands of Irish tourists each year. He was known to frequent the Irish pubs there even though he doesn't drink.
But he has two other homes including one on the other side of the island away from the tourist haunts.
A senior Garda source said: "Gerry has three places in Lanzarote and that is where we expect him to go. We don't expect him to hang around Dublin for much longer because it is dangerous for him.
"The Kinahans are not the force they were since the Americans came after them. They are running out of money, their whole drug network is being disrupted and they are terrified of being extradited to the United States. They are rumoured to have fled Dubai for Iran in recent days.
"Gerry would be safe in Lanzarote because it would be very hard for the Kinahans to get him there.
"They have run out of Irish hitmen because most of them are in prison and they would have to pay big money to get foreigners to carry out a contract killing.
"The Kinahans have enough to worry about at the moment with a five million euros bounty on each of their heads and both the FBI and the DEA vigorously pursuing them.
"Although they might hate him and want him dead, I'd say Gerry Hutch is the least of their problems at the moment.
"We would expect Gerry to stay away from crime from here on in and to live off the millions he has already made.
"He is 60 years of age, has just been found not guilty of murder, he doesn't need the grief any more."
Gardai will continue to investigate the Hutch Organised Crime Gang and follow the money trail but the chances of them being able to charge the Monk again are regarded as very slim unless some dramatic new evidence emerges.
The acting Justice Minister Simon Harris is still confident the Government can defeat the drug cartels and win the war on organised crime despite Gerry Hutch being found not guilty of the murder of David Byrne in the Regency Hotel in 2016 by the three-judge Special Criminal Court over a week ago.
He said "real and significant progress" is being made against organised crime groups like the Kinahans and the Hutches and especially by the Gardai on the international front.
He revealed that since the Kinahan-Hutch feud began in March 2015 they have seized €315 million worth of illegal drugs.
Mr Harris stated: "We have seized 146 firearms and 5,672 rounds of ammunition, €28 million in cash, while 1,353 people were arrested.
"I believe very significant progress is being made by An Garda Siochana in its international work in trying to break up some of these crime gangs.
"We will continue to give our courts and the Gardai the power they need. I believe we all need to support the work of the Special Criminal Court and it serves a very important purpose in this state.
"It protects men and women from having to come eye to eye on a jury with some extraordinarily dangerous people in this country."
A record number of people, 16, were convicted by the Special Criminal Court in relation to organised crime last year.
The Minister added: "There are people in Ireland today who are not addicted to drugs, or from a vulnerable community or background, who are in well paid jobs and will snort a line or take a pill today.
"They need to be reminded of the direct correlation between that action and the funding of misery, crime, pain, violence and death.
"It is organised crime that causes misery in good communities among good people. Those who are most repulsed, revulsed and appalled and living through the misery are the good decent people in the affected communities."
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