Kinahan cartel figures Kavanagh and Byrne facing firearms conspiracy charges

British law enforcement has for the first time set out the serious firearms and related charges senior Kinahan cartel members and their associates face for their alleged role in a gunning running conspiracy.

Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh (55), a UK-based Dubliner who ran the Kinahans’ British operation, and his brother-in-law, Dubliner Liam Byrne (42), who ran the Kinahan-aligned Byrne organised crime group in Dublin, each face five counts.

They include conspiring to: possess a firearm without a certificate; possess ammunition for a firearm without a certificate; possess a prohibited weapon; possess prohibited ammunition; pervert the course of justice. The charges result from messages harvested from Encrochat, the encrypted messaging platform used by crime gangs and infiltrated by international law enforcement.

Those messages allegedly link the men to a gang, based in Britain, that was acquiring and selling firearms and ammunition to other crime gangs. A haul of 11 firearms linked to the alleged gun running conspiracy was, according to Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA), recovered in the Republic after information supplied by Thomas Kavanagh.

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Along with senior cartel figures Kavanagh and Byrne, three other men also face charges. Kavanagh’s son, Jack Kavanagh (23), Tamworth, Staffordshire, and Shaun Kent (35), Liverpool, face the same five charges while Daniel McLoughlin (36), Liverpool, faces the same four ammunition and weapons charges, though he is not charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Details of the charges facing the men emerged during a court hearing in Westminster Magistrates Court, London, where Thomas Kavanagh, Kent and McLoughlin appeared on Tuesday.

Thomas Kavanagh was jailed last year for 21 years in Britain for his lead role in importing consignments of drugs into Britain valued at approximately €35 million. His son, Jack Kavanagh, and Byrne were arrested in Spain – Malaga and Mallorca respectively – in June on foot of extradition requests from the British authorities.

Byrne’s brother, David Byrne (34), was killed in the Hutch gang attack at the Regency Hotel, Dublin, in 2016, and he fled Ireland after that attack. His assets, including his home in Raleigh Square, Crumlin, were seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau in 2018. While Byrne initially settled in Britain after leaving Ireland, he later left for Dubai after the NCA inquiry into him, Thomas Kavanagh and their associates, gathered pace.

Byrne travelled to Mallorca for a family holiday in June and was arrested there while Jack Kavanagh was detained days earlier as he was travelling through Malaga on his way from Dubai to Turkey. Both Byrne and Jack Kavanagh remain in custody in Spain pending their extradition to Britain.

After the court hearing in London on Tuesday, when Thomas Kavanagh, Kent and McLoughlin were formally charged, the NCA confirmed Byrne and Jack Kavanagh were facing the same charges. Thomas Kavanagh, Kent and McLoughlin will appear before the Old Bailey on September 5th in relation to the charges.

The investigation into the men, which was part of Operation Venetic, has led NCA officers to believe Byrne, Jack Kavanagh and Kent “conspired to pervert the course of justice by planning to reveal the location of weapons in an attempt to get Thomas Kavanagh a reduced prison sentence”.

“These charges are a major milestone in what has been a long and complex international investigation,” NCA regional head of investigations Craig Turner said. “We will continue to work with our partners to target criminals who we suspect are operating at the highest levels of organised crime impacting on the UK.”