KEN FOY CRIME CORRESPONDENT – 20 APRIL 2013 10:40 AM
A CRIMINAL known as 'the businessman' is sending terror through gangland Dublin.
Detectives are braced for a potential bloodbath as rival factions battle to fill the void left by the jailing of crimelord Brendan Kinlan this week.
Kinlan (42), from Bray, Co Wicklow, was jailed for eight years in England after a jury found him guilty of possession of over €2 million worth of amphetamines. The drugs were discovered after he crashed his van to avoid hitting a pheasant.
Sources say that a 40-year-old "businessman" is determined to take control amid the power vaccum.
This is causing panic among Kinlan's associates who include a notorious convicted killer.
"This businessman has almost come from nowhere in the past year. He is completely psychotic; all he wants is power," explained the source.
"But he is not like your ordinary gang boss. He's a strategist. He plans everything to a tee and never gets his hands dirty.
"His motivation is that he wants to be feared, and by God some of the most hardened criminals are petrified of him."
The Wicklow-based criminal has a huge property portfolio and links to the Continuity IRA.
He is suspected of having an "active involvement" in the gangland gun murder of Philip 'Philly' O'Toole (32), who was shot dead in January.
Kinlan was based in the UK, but was closely linked to the international crime syndicate led by Christy Kinahan and 'Fat' Freddie Thompson's mob, and was heavily involved in the supply of drugs along the east coast.
However, with Kinlan behind bars, his crew have been left terrified of challenging 'the businessman'.
"Information has come in that he is trying to intimidate and target one of Kinlan's main men. This could get very messy," said a source.
Already 'the businessman' is being investigated for a number of shootings and an abduction.
He is also suspected of ordering the theft of 29 firearms in Wicklow last September.
Senior gardai fear the crime boss will use the jailing of Kinlan to expand his reign of terror.
Trial
"With Kinlan now entering a long stretch behind bars, this criminal has seen his chance to rise to the very top and that is going to mean serious problems.
"Kinlan's crew are not in the habit of taking things lying down, so there could be very interesting times ahead."
Kinlan's trial at Leeds Crown Court heard how the 42-year-old was driving down the M1 in West Yorkshire when his vehicle span out of control and ended on the hard shoulder.
Kinlan, originally from Bray but living in Middlesbrough, was unable to continue with his delivery of "a massive consignment of controlled drugs".
The van was towed to a garage used by police to recover and store vehicles.
It was ultimately Kinlan's persistence to get the drugs out of the back of the vehicle that led to garage staff discovering the stash.
