Gerard 'The Monk' Hutch due to appear in court in Spain later today

GERARD “THE MONK” Hutch will appear later today in a court on the island of Lanzarote charged with a number of organised crime offences, The Journal has confirmed. 

Sources have said that the charges follow a two year investigation by the Spanish Guardia Civil.

Gerry Hutch was arrested in raids across Lanzarote, Spain and Ireland targeting the Hutch Organised Crime Group on Wednesday. The people arrested in the operation with Hutch have been described by sources as “close associates and business partners”.

The Spanish police, led by a prosecuting judge, are investigating offences that range from drug trafficking, people trafficking, money laundering and other offences with organised crime. 

The Dublin search was at his north Dublin home in Clontarf. 

A statement from gardaí on Wednesday said the operation was targeting transnational organised crime group suspected to be involved in money laundering across a number of jurisdictions.

An officer from the Guardia Civil was in attendance at the search in Dublin, along with personnel from the Criminal Assets Bureau and Emergency Response Unit.

It is understood that gardaí have fed intelligence and some evidence into that probe. Sources have said the raids in Spain and here in Ireland were focused on obtaining documents and other evidence.

The Spanish police and gardaí have been unable to confirm the operations and the arrests as the investigating judge or magistrate has sealed the documents ahead of the court appearance. 

Advertisement

The Monk was recently videoed in a Lanzarote pub singing the Fields of Athenry – he has been spending much of his time on the island since his acquittal for the murder of David Byrne.

The gardaí are continuing their investigations into the activities of the Hutch and the Kinahan Organised Crime Groups.

A source has described recent international operations against both groupings as the beginning of an “end game scenario”.  

On the Kinahan side of the investigation Ireland has signed an extradition agreement with the United Arab Emirates.  

Sean McGovern, a leading figure in the Kinahan OCG, has been arrested and will be extradited home by Dubai authorities. He is wanted in Ireland for his alleged involvement in the murder of Noel “Duck Egg” Kirwan who was killed in the Hutch/Kinahan feud.

McGovern was shot in the botched Regency hit against Daniel Kinahan by the Hutch OCG in which David Byrne, who was a leading member of the Kinahan aligned Byrne Organised Crime Group was also killed.  

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said she would not comment on the case.

She said gardaí “are working very closely with our European and our international counterparts to bring those who are involved in organised crime to justice”.

“We know that crime knows no boundaries. We know that people trying to evade the law will often leave the country and cross into other jurisdictions, and that’s why it’s really important that gardaí have, over the years, built up really strong relationships with other police in other countries,” she said.

She said it is important that those responsible for “inflicting nothing but misery in our communities the length and breadth of this country” and the “people at the very top are held accountable”.

She said the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and his team have done a huge amount of work in “working closely with colleagues, not just in Spain, but right across the world, working with colleagues in the US, in Europol and Interpol, in sharing information”.

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Learn More Support The Journal