Sports cars, jewellery and a €38,000 betting slip seized in Dublin gangland raids
Gardaí have seized 20 luxury sports cars and motorbikes along with jewellery and a €38,000 betting slip in a series of raids carried out this morning.
18 properties, including 11 private homes and a number of commercial properties were searched by Gardaí helped by the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).
It has been reported in the Irish Independent that in one of the houses, a betting slip for €38,000 on a Liverpool football match for tomorrow night at odds of 7/4 was seized.
Cars including a Mercedes CLA220, a Lexus RX450h Hybrid, a VW Golf GTD and a white BMW were all seized from homes in Crumlin.
A commercial property called Active Car Sales was also raided in Bluebell Business Park and over 15 cars were taken by CAB.
The estimated worth of the confiscated cars is thought to be well over €500,000.
Some tense senses occurred during the morning raids when the home of Liam Byrne, was raided.
Liam is the older brother of David Byrne, who was gunned down at the Regency Hotel in February.
During the raid, another brother, James Byrne, arrived on the scene and threatened gardaí and members of the media.
Over 60 gardaí were involved in the operation which aimed to identify the assets of the associates of the murder victim David Byrne.
The Criminal Assets Bureau has hit one of two feuding gangs, which has so far claimed the lives of three people, in a massive search operation targeting their wealth.
More than 20 premises across Dublin associated with the gang of murdered boss David Byrne were raided, including up to 16 homes and six professional offices and a car sales business.
The Crumlin man was shot dead at the Regency Hotel on February 4 last in retaliation for the murder of Gary Hutch in Spain last September.
In revenge for Byrne's death, Edward Hutch – brother of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch – was murdered in the north inner city on February 8.
In a series of raids kicking off at 4.30am today, elite armed officers supported CAB, local gardai and other national units in searches on both sides of the city.
The operation, assisted by a garda helicopter hovering low overhead, concentrated on the south Dublin city area.
Six homes in adjoining areas of Crumlin - Raleigh Square, Windmill Road and Kildare Road – were searched, belonging to key Byrne family members and a senior associate.
Some 11 vehicles were seized, including BMWs, Golf GTDs, Mercedes and Audis.
A car sales business, owned by two senior members of the gang, was also searched in the Ballyfermot area of south west Dublin.
Up to 35 vehicles, with 141 and 151 registrations, are being inspected and in the process of being taken away.
CAB removed a large amount of documentation in the searches, including bank statements and financial information, as well as computers and mobile phones.
The operation is continuing.
Dublin-based journalist, Nicola Tallent, told Newstalk Radio that the raids have targetted a car sales business believed to have links to the Kinihan family.
She said: "The Kinihan gang have been suspected of using the car sales industry as a money-laundering, and possibly as a drug transportation route from the UK, for some time.
"So they are being searched and there are a couple of accountants' premises and solicitor's premises as well," the journalist with the Sunday World added.
The Criminal Assets Bureau is leading the search, which is targetting a Dublin criminal gang with links to David Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel last month.
The searches are ongoing at 11 houses and one commercial premises in the Dublin area.
They are part of an investigation into organised crime groups which has been going on for "some considerable time".
The searches, which began early this morning in Crumlin, involve the Criminal Assets Bureau with assistance from the Revenue service.
The following Garda Units are involved in the operation:
1. The Emergency Response Unit
2. Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau
3. Special Detective Unit
4. Dublin Metropolitan South Division
5. Dublin Metropolitan North Central Division
6. Garda Síochána Technical Bureau
7. Garda Operational Support Unit
Investigators are looking into the activities of a gang linked to David Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel last month.
