Man due in court in Spain over Hutch killing

A man arrested in Spain for the gangland murder that ignited the bloody Hutch- Kinahan feud is expected to appear in court there today.

The known criminal, originally from Dublin’s south inner city but more often resident in Spain, was arrested yesterday morning on the Costa del Sol for the murder of Gary Hutch near Marbella in September last year. He was detained by the Guardia Civil in a planned operation, assisted by gardaí.

Three homes, the Kinahan linked MGM boxing gym and a luxury yacht were searched and a number of luxury cars were seized. Video footage released by the Guardia Civil showed officers counting out wads of €500 and €50 notes that were also confiscated.

Simultaneously, a number of Spanish detectives were in Ireland for a series of raids on homes in Dublin where items including computers, phones, false identification papers, financial documents relating to foreign banks and €23,000 in cash were seized.

More than 60 gardaí were involved in the 6am raids on three homes in the Dublin 8 area and one each in Lucan, Clondalkin, and Tallaght.

No-one was arrested but Detective Superintendent Tony Howard of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau said he was confident arrests would follow.

“Today was about disrupting and dismantling these organised crime groups.

“It was about gathering evidence so we can go to the office of the director of public prosecutions with a view to seeking a charge in relation to possibly directing organised crime and certainly facilitating organised crime here,” he said.

Gary Hutch’s murder last year sparked the revenge attack on the MGM boxing tournament in the Regency Hotel in Dublin in February during which gunmen shot dead David Byrne, a member of the international drugs gang led by Spanish-based Christy Kinahan.

Six more deaths followed, including two direct members of the Hutch family, two men believed associated with the Hutch gang and two innocent members of the public, most recently council worker Trevor O’Neill who was gunned down on holiday with his family in Spain in a case of mistaken identity.