Gardaí seize Kinahan firearms arsenal

Garda gang units have saved the lives of Hutch family members and potentially of innocent bystanders after seizing an arsenal of high-powered weaponry from the Kinahan crime cartel.

Five firearms — including two MP9 submachine guns and three loaded handguns – were confiscating when the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and the Special Crime Task Force swooped on a car on Quarry Rd, Cabra, in Dublin’s north inner city.

Two silencers for the submachine guns were also seized — a fairly unusual discovery — along with 140 rounds of ammunition.

Sources said the guns, particularly the loaded handguns, were going be used “imminently” against Hutch members in the north inner city. The submachine guns were described as “special forces” weapons.

One source said: “The guys using these are untrained and they will just spray bullets, at a rate of up to 40 rounds in less than a second, and kill indiscriminately.”

Gardaí interviewed a number of “lower order Kinahan footsoldiers” nearby, but could not arrest them as they were not in or near the car. DNA tests are being conducted to see if they can be linked to the car.

They are described as being locals of the north inner city, operating on the order of two related families in Crumlin, south Dublin, the leaders of the Kinahan cartel in Ireland.

Sources believe the imminent assassination is unrelated to the high-profile arrest of a senior Kinahan boss, due in court today, for a gangland murder.

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