Hutch gang associate targeted by gardaí and Spanish police in Lanzarote

Members of An Garda Síochána and the Spanish Guardia Civil have conducted a joint search operation targeting an Irish man linked to the Hutch gang.

Detectives from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the force’s serious crimes squad, travelled to Lanzarote and were on the ground when the search operation was conducted on Tuesday.

Garda headquarters said the Irish detectives searched the residence of an Irish citizen residing on the island in the Canaries. It added that the targeted man was “suspected of involvement in an organised crime gang based in Spain”.

It is not the first time Irish detectives have been involved in live operations in Spain, though such manoeuvres are unusual.

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Garda members were involved a major operation in Spain in 2016 during when the man later convicted of the murder of Dubliner Gary Hutch, in southern Spain in 2015, was arrested.

The man targeted in the Irish-Spanish operation on Tuesday is aligned to the Hutch crime gang, which has been heavily involved in drug dealing and armed robberies from its base in Dublin’s north inner city for many years.

The group, which had been embroiled in a feud with the Kinahan cartel, has had activities in Spain related to drugs and cigarette smuggling over a prolonged period.

Tuesday’s search operation involved the Garda detectives along with the Spanish Guardia Civil’s elite UCE3-Central Intelligence Unit and the Regional Intelligence Unit of Las Palmas.

“Today’s operation in Spain reflects An Garda Síochána’s ongoing commitment in tackling international organised crime gangs in conjunction with European partner services,” the Garda said, adding investigations are ongoing.