KEN FOY, CRIME CORESPONDENT – 13 APRIL 2013 10:40 AM
GARDAI are braced for bloodshed following crimelord Christy Kinahan's release from prison. A major gangland alert has been issued after the international drugs baron walked free from a Belgian jail.
Detectives fear there will be carnage in the capital as the so-called 'Dapper Don' now goes on the warpath against drug gangs who owe him money.
"The fact that Kinahan is a free man again is causing huge concern to gardai, particularly the specialist units because he is owed so much money by dealers of all rank here.
"A lot of people are not going to be happy to hear about this news," said a senior source.
The 55-year-old is understood to have jumped straight on a plane and flown to his base on Spain's Costa Del Sol, following his release on Monday.
According to sources, Kinahan held a meeting with Tallaght crimeboss Paul Rice at the Spanish hideout.
"Information has come in that Rice flew out to Spain to meet Kinahan – the two men have been working together."
Flex
Rice (43) is one of the capital's most feared criminals and was previously put on a death list by the Real IRA. Both men will now seek to flex their muscles on the capital's crime underworld to force dealers and gangs to cough up cash.
Rice and his mob have been causing panic among drug dealers across the capital as they try to recoup hundreds of thousands of euro in cash that is owed to Kinahan's organisation. One of a number of criminals who have been targeted by the syndicate is a massive dealer who was the chief target of the special garda Operation Vulcan last February.
It is understood that apart from coming under pressure from Kinahan's mob, the Criminal Assets Bureau are at an advanced stage of seizing property and cash from this dealer who is based in Drimnagh but is originally from Cabra.
Rice's most serious conviction was when he was jailed for 10 years in July 1995, after he pleaded guilty to the armed robbery of a bank.
Tallaght man Rice escaped the scene on horseback after the incident in which shots were discharged and a security guard was kicked and beaten on the head with a lump hammer.
His associate Kinahan is the undisputed head drugs kingpin in Ireland.
Kinahan was released from the prison near Antwerp after serving a four-year sentence for fraud-related offences. The money laundering case was brought against the drug boss following his arrest by Belgian federal police, in May 2008.
He was extradited to Belgium from Spain in 2010 as part of the massive international Operation Shovel into his estimated €500m drugs enterprise.
The extensive cross-border police investigation into Kinahan's organisation was set up in 2008 but progress has been slow because of the complexity of the task.
While most of the inquiries carried out by the Garda National Drugs Unit and their counterparts overseas have been finalised, alleged assets are still being tracked around the world.
Suspects including Christy and his son Daniel Kinahan, and 'Fat' Freddie Thompson, are being investigated.
