Body count mounts for Irish criminals who look to life in the sun

The shooting dead of Gerard Kavanagh (44) is the latest in a series of fatal gun attacks on Irish gangland criminals who have relocated to Spain or other parts of Europe to further their careers in the sun.

Perhaps the most notorious Irish murders in Spain were those of Shane Coates (31) and Stephen Sugg (27), who became known as The Westies when involved in drug-dealing and related violence in west Dublin. They were shot dead in Alicante in 2004 and buried in concrete under a warehouse. Their bodies were not found for almost three years. They were on the run from gardaí and are believed to have crossed more established Irish criminals in Spain.

Drug dealer Richard Keogh (30), originally from Cabra, was shot dead in 2008 outside a casino near Benalmadena, in southern Spain.

Peter Mitchell (45), Summerhill in Dublin, was wounded in a shooting in Marbella in August 2008. He was a one-time associate of John Gilligan.

Drug dealer and murder suspect Paddy Doyle (27), Portland Place, Dublin, was shot dead near Marbella in February 2008, apparently by Irish criminals known to him.

John McKeon, from Finglas in Dublin, has been missing presumed dead in Spain for eight years.

In March 2008 the body of Keith Ennis (30), Clondalkin, Dublin, was dismembered and stuffed into a suitcase, which was then thrown into a canal in Amsterdam.

He had left Ireland in 2007 while facing gun and drugs charges. He lived in Spain before moving to the Netherlands.

Cork drug dealer Michael Ahern (38) was found shot dead and frozen solid in the freezer of an apartment in Portugal in 2005.

In June 2000, Dublin heroin dealer Derek Dunne (33) was shot dead in Amsterdam.

In April of that year, Damien Monaghan (25), Ennis, Co Clare, and Vincent Costello (29) and his brother Morgan Costello (21), both from Bansha, Co Tipperary, were all shot dead and dismembered in an apartment near The Hague by two Dutch drug dealers.