‘Unprecedented’ number up for murder conspiracies

There is an “unprecedented” number of people before the courts or in custody on suspicion of conspiracy to murder, Garda bosses investigating the Kinahan crime cartel have said.

Officers said they were working on files for the Director of Public Prosecutions to try to bring charges — including conspiracy to murder — against the senior leadership of the cartel, including those based elsewhere in Europe and in the Middle East.

Speaking at a briefing in relation to the interception last Saturday of a suspected hit-team linked to the Kinahan cartel, Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll said the capture of people redhanded with firearms, on their way to kill someone, had the “greatest impact” on an organised crime group.