Hatchet's body to be flown home from Spain in days.
BY KEN FOY CRIME CRIME CORRESPONDENT – 13 SEPTEMBER 2014 02:30 PM
A major garda alert will be in place for the funeral of gangland enforcer Gerard 'Hatchet' Kavanagh which is expected to take place in Dublin as early as next week.
The body of the gangster has not been released to his family by Spanish authorities but a source told the Herald that there is "an expectation" that this will happen within the next few days.
Meanwhile it has emerged that gardai do not believe that Kavanagh was murdered by any foreign gang on Spain's Costa-Del-Crime.
During the week, there had been speculation that 'Hatchet' was taken out by either Russian or Liverpool gangs and even a bizarre theory about a Dutch mob.
Instead it is now believed that he was definitely targeted by an Irish mob as part of a bitter dispute.
When the gangster's body is returned home, it is expected that his funeral will take place at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Drimnagh, which is located just yards from his heartbroken mother's home.
Heavies
And sources say that gardai will be out in force for the funeral which will be attended by many heavies from Dublin's underworld, including his right-hand man Paul Rice from Tallaght who is said to be "furious" that his close associate has been murdered.
Kavanagh was shot nine times with a machine pistol by two masked men just before 5pm local time on Saturday as he sipped a beer at Harmon's Irish bar in Elviria.
Detectives have recovered a mobile phone believed to belong to the notorious gangster and are working through the numbers on it to see who called him before he met his violent death with sources here satisfied that Kavanagh was "set-up."
Despite gardai saying that Kavanagh and Rice were trusted members of the Christy Kinahan international crime syndicate, the drug godfather's son Daniel has denied this.
Javier Arias, a lawyer who represents Daniel in Spain rubbished reports that Kavanagh had connections with the Kinahan family, insisting the gangster had no "personal or working relationship" with Daniel.
"The only link between Daniel and Gerard Kavanagh is that they're Irish," he said.
