Ten Irish gangs control the main import drug routes

Ten top-level Irish gangs dominate the trafficking of drugs from Spain and the Netherlands into Ireland.

Up to five of these syndicates have direct connections with South and Central America and sometimes orchestrate an entire shipment of cocaine into Ireland, sometimes via Europe.

They include the Spanish-based Christy Kinahan cartel — currently involved in a feud with the Hutch gang — and a trafficking network controlled by a veteran criminal based in Holland and Germany.