Having been put under intense pressure when gangland feuding erupted and claimed two lives in Dublin during the general election campaign, the Garda’s investigation into the two factions at the centre of the dispute has now gone into overdrive.
The sight of large teams of gardaí breaking through the front doors of the houses where some of key figures in the Kinahan drugs gang live has also gone a long way to correct the perception of a group that is untouchable.
There remains much work to do, but gardaí have ended the week with three AK47s they believe were used in the Regency Hotel attack that claimed the life of David Byrne (33), and now believe they know who was involved in providing the firearms to the killers.
Financial records
A large number of financial records that may prove a road map for the
Criminal Assets Bureau
(Cab) has also been gathered from almost 30 properties linked to Kinahan gang members raided on Wednesday and yesterday.
And the top tier of the gang in Dublin has also seen 29 vehicles taken away by the Garda, as well as about €150,000 in cash and a large amount of high-value jewellery and small quantities of drugs.
None of these developments is a knock-out blow for the leadership of either gang under investigation, and the Cab faces a tough legal battle in the High Court to even retain the vehicles taken on Wednesday.
However, senior Garda sources said the week was very significant because of the evidence found, as well as a badly need psychological blow for law and order.
Assets
“You don’t know the value of the financial records that you have until you go through them and really look into it,” said one source, of the data and documents seized this week.
“But, in the past, things like this have helped the bureau to find assets, bank accounts and so on, and also shown how money is being moved and by who. And getting assets is a big part of this.”
Another Garda officer said that after Byrne’s funeral, some of the media coverage was “frenzied”.
“You had wild guesses in the papers about the cost of the funeral, but the records we have now show it was much lower,” the officer said.
“It was a nice, neat story; that these guys had plenty of money, that they were flaunting it and that nobody was doing anything about it.
“But of course that’s not the case and people saw that this week. And they’ll see it again when people are charged using the evidence we got this week.”
