Fugitive Freddie in a fake beard as he's arrested.
BY LUKE BYRNE AND KEN FOY – 06 MAY 2014 03:30 PM
CRIME boss 'Fat' Freddie Thompson has been arrested wearing a disguise including a fake beard.
The mobster is wanted by gardai in connection with a violent disorder investigation following a row in a Dublin pub last year.
He was arrested when heavily armed Dutch police stormed a flat in Amsterdam yesterday.
The international warrant for his arrest was issued in January and it was thought that he was in Spain.
But the 33-year-old, from Loreto Road in Maryland, Dublin 8, was found hiding in a rundown area of Amsterdam where he had been living under an assumed name.
The Herald has learned that Dutch detectives learned of his whereabouts some time ago but had to be certain that the suspect was Thompson before making their move.
As a result of fresh intelligence, they decided to detain him yesterday and a special team of armed officers surrounded the flat before arresting him.
When he was detained, he was found in possession of false ID documents and a genuine passport, which had been doctored to match the ID.
Thompson was extradited to Spain two-and-a-half years ago after the Spanish authorities named him as a member of an international organisation based on the Costa del Sol.
The gang has members in a number of countries including Spain, the UK and Ireland.
Thompson had been living in Spain, but travelled regularly to Ireland.
He is currently on bail in Spain and being investigated there after police linked him to the organised crime empire of Christy Kinahan.
Detectives suspect Thompson worked for cocaine cartel controller Kinahan, dealing his drugs and laundering the proceeds.
Up to 30 members of the Kinahan mob were arrested by Spanish police in May 2010 under Operation Shovel.
While Thompson was not in Spain at the time Kinahan's gang were lifted, gardai arrested him here and sent him back in October 2011. He was allowed to return to Dublin at the start of last year.
BOTTLE
WHILE HOME, HE WAS IN A SOUTH CITY PUB ON JANUARY 7 FOLLOWING THE FUNERAL OF GANGLAND MURDER VICTIM CHRISTY WARREN WHEN HE IS ALLEGED TO HAVE THROWN A BOTTLE AT A CUSTOMER AND PUNCHED HIM.
He is also accused of attacking two women at the bar and could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Although no complaint was made to gardai, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Gardai are expected to apply immediately for Thompson's extradition back to Dublin to face charges related to the row in the pub and also to the possession of a false Irish passport.
Thompson ruled half of the vicious Crumlin-Drimnagh fighting factions that have claimed 17 lives in Dublin since 2001.
Thompson is said to have married his partner Vicky Dempsey in recent months.
In January, he failed to attend the funeral of his uncle, who died in jail.
Drug dealer John Brannigan was found dead in his cell in Wheatfield Prison.
The 49-year-old, who was a chronic drug addict, had been serving an 11-year sentence for dealing. It is believed he suffered a heart attack.
Brannigan was the father of one of Thompson's closest friends, Liam Brannigan.
