THIS IS the massive haul of amphetamines that finally brought one of Ireland's most notorious and exlusive crime lords to justice in England.
Gangster Brendan Kinlan (42), was sentenced to eight -rears in prison in Leeds Crown Court on Monday titer he was caught with a ,2 million drugs haul near Wakefield, West Yeashire. Bizarrely, the massive stash of designer drugs was only dis-covered after Kinlan had crashed his van as he swerved to avoid 'hitting a pheasant which had ran out on the road. When police came to the crash scene they realised Kinlan wasn't the registered owner of the van and impounded the vehicle.
SUSPICiOUS
After the van was towed to a garage in West Yorkshire, Kinlan continually"Called to the business asking staff to return his property in the back of the van. During the trial, the court heard that Kinlan's persistence led to garage staff becoming suspicious and discovering the stash. The eight-year sentence will be ! the first time Kinlan has been giv-en a lengthy prison term despite being heavily involved in organ-ised crime for two decades. When Kinlan was born in 1970 in Bray, Co. Wicklow, drug crime was a relative rarity in the county. By the time he turned 30 he headed up a major crime organi-sation, distributing millions of euro worth of cocaine, heroin and cannabis along the East Coast. During the early 1990s, Kinlan
BUSTED:
Massive amphetamines haul found in Brendan Kinlan's van had forged close links to a num- ber of Dublin gangs. A source said Kinlan regularly got 'high' on his own supply and blew thousands of euros in the local bookies every month. During his time as Wicklow's top mobster, Kinlan also earned a reputation for using extreme violence and intimidation. Gardai believe he was responsi-ble for intimidating two State wit-nesses who failed to turn up in court during the murder trial of his pal Richie O'Carroll. They believe Kinlan personally lodged money in their accounts in exchange for them agreeing to stay away from Bray. In 2005 O'Carroll's guilty to manslaughter plea was entered and accepted by the State 10 days after a jury failed to reach a ver-dict in his murder trial. Kinlan's gang are also the prime suspe,cts:for the murder of local criminal Joseph Vickers (43), in 1999.
The murdered man was found beaten to death outside his burning caravan on a beach at Greystones, Co. Wicklow. It' believed Vickers was the victim of a revenge attack after his pal Vincent O'Brien had seriously injured Kinlan in a stabbing. Five years later,Vincent O'Brien was murdered after he was shot at his home at Kilbride Grove in Bray, on August 10, 2005. Gardai believe the chief sus-pects for the murder are two asso-ciates of Kinlan's. Kinlan had spent the last few years moving between the UK, Holland and Spain, sourcing drugs from Peter Tatso' Mitchell.
