Senior Kinahan cartel suspect arrested over 2016 Eddie Hutch murder

A man arrested in connection with the Kinahan-Hutch feud murder of Eddie Hutch in 2016 has been a high value target for the Garda’s organised crime units for years. The suspect, who is in his 40s, is regarded as a key figure in the Kinahan cartel and has been based in Spain and Ireland in recent years. He was arrested in Dublin on Friday and can now be held for up to seven days without charge.

He is regarded as a senior Kinahan cartel member, a position he held at the time Mr Hutch, the brother of Gerry Hutch known as ‘The Monk’, was shot dead. Eddie Hutch, who worked as a taxi driver, was gunned down outside his home on Poplar Row in Dublin’s north inner city on February 8th, 2016.

Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin, confirmed on Friday a man had been detained for questioning about the murder. The arrest was carried out by detectives based on Mountjoy Garda station in north Dublin. “A man, aged in his 40s, was arrested this morning and is currently detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act,” a brief Garda statement said.

The arrest of the suspect is the latest in a series of such operations in recent years, the most recent of which was last month. On that occasion, a man currently in prison was detained for questioning about the killing.

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The murder of 59-year-old father-of-five Eddie Hutch occurred three days after a daring attack at the Regency Hotel, north Dublin, where Kinahan associate David Byrne, Crumlin, Dublin, was shot dead. The gunmen were intent on shooting dead cartel leader Danial Kinahan in revenge for the murder in Spain of Gary Hutch in September, 2015. However, Kinahan fled on foot and Byrne was shot instead.

Eddie Hutch’s murder was the first killing by the Kinahan cartel immediately after the Regency ambush, with the killing spree by the Kinahan cartel then continuing until the end of 2018. David Byrne was a brother of Liam Byrne, who was the leader of the Byrne organised crime group, which ran much of the Kinahans’ drug dealing operation in Ireland.

When David Byrne was shot dead at the Regency, gardaí expected a series of revenge shootings but were surprised the cartel decided to shoot Eddie Hutch and to target him so quickly. Detectives believe he was first to be shot dead as he was regarded as a soft target who could be located immediately.

The arrest of the suspect on Friday in Dublin was regarded as significant given the man’s status, both in 2016 and at present, in the Kinahan cartel’s organisation. He has also been investigated for other serious crimes, including some of the other attacks in the Kinahan-Hutch feud, in which 18 people have lost their lives.