ireland - Blog 2.0 - Gangsters Inc. - www.gangstersinc.org
2024-03-28T11:24:04Z
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Prison sentences for crew behind plot to smuggle orange juice crates packed with marijuana into Northern Ireland
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/prison-sentences-for-crew-behind-plot-to-smuggle-orange-juice-cra
2016-11-11T16:00:00.000Z
2016-11-11T16:00:00.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/prison-sentences-for-crew-behind-plot-to-smuggle-orange-juice-cra"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237073694,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237073694?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By Gangsters Inc. Editors</p>
<p>What seemed like a pretty healthy way to traffic 167 kilograms of cannabis turned out to be too good to be true. Three men behind a plot to smuggle the drugs into <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Ireland">Northern Ireland</a> received prison sentences of two years and four months for their roles on Tuesday. As we all know, prison isn’t the healthiest environment to spend several years in.</p>
<p>53-year-old Mark Fleetwood and 63-year-old Paul Green, both from Birmingham, were caught red-handed as officers of Great Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) watched them load the batch of 167 kilos of cannabis resin into a white van at a retail park in Camlough, Co. Armagh in April 2015. The drugs, which had a potential value to organized crime of £150,000 and a potential street value of £800,000, had been hidden among orange juice cartons in pallets imported from <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Spain">Spain</a> via <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blog/list?tag=Dublin">Dublin</a>, Ireland.</p>
<p>The men were led, authorities say, by 54-year-old Stephen Dainty, also of Birmingham. Over a period of two months, he rented a unit in the retail park, organized logistics around the consignment, and arranged for Fleetwood and Green to travel from Birmingham to Newry to take delivery of the drugs and facilitate their onward distribution.</p>
<p>When NCA officers searched Dainty’s home they found documents relating to the orange juice delivery and were able to place the three together on flights between Birmingham and Dublin by analyzing telephone and computer communications.</p>
<p>A pretty open-and-shut case for British investigators.</p>
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Hit attempt on Irish mob boss John Gilligan
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/hit-attempt-on-irish-mob-boss-john-gilligan
2014-03-03T10:00:00.000Z
2014-03-03T10:00:00.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/hit-attempt-on-irish-mob-boss-john-gilligan"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237027086,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237027086?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Irish gangster John Gilligan was shot by two gunmen this past Saturday as they crashed the christening party of his niece and unleashed several well-placed bullets at the once feared Dublin crime boss. He is currently in Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, recovering from his wounds which are deemed non-life threatening.</p>
<p>The hit was no surprise.</p>
<p>Not for the police, not for the media, not for gangland insiders, and certainly not for John Gilligan himself. Since his release from prison in October of 2013 after his conviction on drug charges in the 1990s, the Irish mobster was warned immediately that there were serious threats to his life.</p>
<p>In true gangster style Gilligan shrugged it off and went about his daily routine. He visited local bars, and could be seen around town with relatives. If that was because he felt the threats were unfounded he was to be proven wrong.</p>
<p>Last December, a hit man wearing a motorcycle helmet entered the Halfway House pub on the Navan Road screaming “Where’s Gilligan, where’s Gilligan?” He had received information Gilligan would be having a drink at that pub. Or maybe he hadn’t listened. Because while Gilligan was not having a drink at said pub, he was actually very nearby in another pub having a drink with his son.</p>
<p>With assassins like that chasing you, it’s not surprising to see Gilligan out and about. He even has plans to write a book about his life of crime. According to the <a href="http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/mobster-to-sell-life-story-to-highest-bidder#.UvztD7X2eP4.twitter" target="_blank">Sunday World</a> tabloid newspaper, the 61-year-old former crime boss is “short of money” and could use the money a best-seller would bring in.</p>
<p>No doubt his book plans infuriate many in the Irish underworld.</p>
<p>On Saturday, Gilligan was at his brother’s house to attend the christening party of his niece’s child. The home was packed with women and children when around 7pm two masked gunmen burst through the front door guns drawn looking for Gilligan.</p>
<p>The crime boss ran and locked himself in the toilet. His would-be assassins fired several shots, between two and four hit Gilligan. “[He] was hit at least twice, suffering bullet wounds to his shoulder or upper chest area and also another bullet wound in one of his legs,” the <a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/gilligan-shot-at-christening-party-30054375.html" target="_blank">Belfast Telegraph reported</a>.</p>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/john-gilligan-fighting-life-after-3197359" target="_blank">The Irish Mirror</a>, Gilligan was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of the hit. If true, it is an indication that he was indeed worried about the death threats and had taken precautions even while attending an innocent christening.</p>
<p>Perhaps it’s also because it takes one to know one. Who could be so cold-blooded that he tries to assassinate a man while attending a christening with women and children? During his gangster days John Gilligan was probably such a man. And if he himself wasn’t, he had men like that doing his bidding.</p>
<p>The two gunmen fled the scene of the crime in a jeep and have not been apprehended. As to who is behind this attempt, it’s pure guesswork.</p>
<p>Though he has been acquitted of the infamous murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, whose life was portrayed in two <a href="http://amzn.to/1cwzeDn" target="_blank">films</a> and countless <a href="http://amzn.to/1luifKh" target="_blank">books</a>, Gilligan is seen as the man who ordered her death. A death that resulted in a large-scale crackdown on Irish organized crime and new laws that gave authorities more power to combat crime.</p>
<p>If you are a gangster currently experiencing hindrance from these laws then you probably are not a big fan of John Gilligan. A man, also, who is still revered as one of Ireland’s biggest crime bosses.</p>
<p>In an underworld inhabited by <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/irish-gang-has-its-own-supermarket-with-dope-guns">violent</a> and powerful men just a hint of jealousy or anger can have grave consequences.</p>
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Profile of Irish ‘Godfather’ Eamon Kelly
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/irish-godfather-eamon-kelly-gunned-down-in-dublin
2014-02-07T11:20:20.000Z
2014-02-07T11:20:20.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/irish-godfather-eamon-kelly-gunned-down-in-dublin"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237015485,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237015485?profile=original" width="304" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>He was called “The Godfather” by the Irish media and every gangster who was worth his guns sought his guidance. Crime boss Eamon Kelly sat firmly on top of the Irish underworld and loved every minute of it. Up until his very last minute, yesterday, when he was shot dead by an assassin.</p>
<p>Eamon Kelly spent his last minutes on earth walking his dog near his home in Killester, on Dublin's Northside. Just after 4pm, a dark-colored 1996 Lexus drove up beside him. In it sat two men, one of whom jumped out of the car and pointed a gun at Kelly and fired several shots into his body.</p>
<p>As his last seconds were ticking away, Kelly lay bleeding in the street. Whatever his last thoughts might have been, he could not have been surprised at this ending. Just two years earlier another gunman had attempted to kill him right outside his home. That time, Kelly had a little bit of that luck of the Irish when the assailant’s weapon jammed and the crime boss managed to escape unharmed. This time, he had no such luck. “The Godfather” was dead at the respectable age of 65.</p>
<p>After firing the shots the gunman got back into the getaway car which sped off away from the crime scene. Gardaí, Irish police, were in hot pursuit of the suspects who abandoned and torched their car a mile from where Kelly had been shot. The two gunmen split up and fled on foot. Gardaí continued their manhunt and managed to catch one of the alleged assailants.</p>
<p>The apprehended suspect is a 32-year-old Real IRA member who has been involved in serious crime for over a decade. He was one of the Real IRA's most senior Dublin operators and is a suspect in a number of shootings.</p>
<p>The murder weapon was not found, but one theory alleges that the gun was handed to a third culprit on a motorcycle who disposed of it.</p>
<p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9237015680,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237015680,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237015680?profile=original" width="201" /></a>If this member of the Real IRA is indeed the man behind Kelly’s murder there are plenty of possible reasons for the execution. Matter of fact, the failed hit in 2010 was said to be on orders of the Real IRA as well. Why did they, so desperately, want him dead, one might ask? The answer is as simple as the motive behind many gangland murders: Because he refused to give in to their demands.</p>
<p>Eamon Kelly (right) never was one to bow down to another man. Growing up in Summerhill in the north of Dublin, he quickly turned to a life of crime. As a teenager he committed crimes such as shoplifting and other minor thefts. During the 1960s he is said to have joined the IRA, though accounts on that differ. What is clear, however, is that he became a notorious and successful armed robber during the 1970s and 1980s, following the example of <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/irish-crime-boss-martin-the">Martin “The General” Cahill</a>.</p>
<p>Armed robbers were known to be tough guys who had no problem with getting their hands dirty. Kelly proved as much when he stabbed a man outside the Workers Party club, Club Uí Chadháin, on Gardiner Place in Dublin’s north inner city in the winter of 1984. The 21-year-old victim was stabbed in the chest and was severely wounded, but survived.</p>
<p>What happened next is typical for a mafia story. At first, things went as they should go. Kelly was convicted of wounding and jailed for ten years. However, after an appeal and re-trial he was convicted of assault and his sentence reduced to three years. Some newspapers reported about witness intimidation by Kelly and his gang, but nothing was ever proven.</p>
<p>By the 1990s, Kelly invested the money he had made from armed robberies in the organizing of drug shipments. Narcotics was Kelly’s main claim to national fame. He was the first person in Ireland to be jailed for bringing a major shipment of cocaine into the country. In 1992, he was caught with almost a kilo of high-grade cocaine worth £500,000 and sentenced to 14 years in prison the following year.</p>
<p>When he came home from prison, the world had changed. In 1992 he was the first “cocaine cowboy”, now there were hundreds. Despite having been gone for so many years, Kelly went right back to a life of crime. He had connections to every major gangster in Ireland and was treated with the utmost respect by the up-and-coming crime bosses. He was a much sought after source of advice about criminal issues and was a central member of a crime council made up of a handful of other veteran crime bosses who between them effectively controlled organized crime in Ireland.</p>
<p>But they didn’t control everything. After the peace agreement with Great-Britain, a lot of hardened, well-armed men had a lot of spare time on their hands. And not a lot of money that came in via donations. Why would people donate money for “the cause” if there was peace? So the Real IRA found new ways to garner some income: They started extorting drug dealers.</p>
<p>Obviously, this little racket caused quite a stir among the gangsters in Dublin. Eamon Kelly remained cool despite the threats. He flat-out refused to pay the Real IRA any money. Other drug bosses followed the example set by their “Godfather”, creating a tense situation between the two camps.</p>
<p>Things came to a critical point when Real IRA leader Alan Ryan was killed on September 3. BBC Dublin correspondent Shane Harrison <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20605070" target="_blank">said</a> “Gardaí believe that Kelly was mentoring a number of criminal gangs that may have been involved in the murder of [the Dublin Real IRA leader].”</p>
<p>Whether there was any truth to this thought was beside the point. The Real IRA had to avenge their leader and do it in such a way that it would send a clear message to both the high-ranked bosses and low-placed soldiers. By killing Eamon Kelly, The Godfather, the Real IRA could not have been any clearer.</p>
<p>On February 6, 2013, the <a href="http://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/crime-desk/two-arrested-in-connection-with-murder-of-mob-boss-eamon-kelly" target="_blank">Sunday World reported</a> that "two men, one in his 30s and the other in his 40s, were arrested in the capital earlier today" in connection with the murder of Kelly. "They are being detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939, at two garda stations on the north side of the city."</p>
<p>IRA member Sean Connolly (34), the man originally arrested and charged with the murder is currently awaiting trial.</p>
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Profile of Irish crime boss Martin "The General" Cahill
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/irish-crime-boss-martin-the
2011-03-24T21:00:00.000Z
2011-03-24T21:00:00.000Z
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<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/irish-crime-boss-martin-the"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236992877,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9236992877?profile=original" width="508" /></a><br /> By David Amoruso<br /> <br /> Martin Cahill was one of Ireland’s most notorious crime bosses. He and his crew were mostly involved in robberies, some of which netted them millions of pounds sterling. And a select few of those, put him on the radar of every cop in Ireland and the United Kingdom. As his notoriety grew, so did his paranoia and violent behavior. But it wasn’t until he stood up against the IRA, that he met his demise. <br /> <br /> Martin Cahill was born on May 23, 1949. His father was a laborer, who later got a job as a lighthouse keeper. His mother stayed at home to look after the kids. The family lived in the inner city slums of Dublin. Cahill’s father had trouble earning enough money to support his large family, and would frequently come home drunk. His father’s drunk behavior set young Martin Cahill straight, as he never drank alcohol during his adult life. With his father unable to provide for his family, Cahill started thinking about life. His father was an honest hardworking man, but had nothing to show for it. He would do things different and, more importantly, earn more money. <br /> <br /> Together with his brothers John, Eddie, Anthony, Michael and Paddy, Martin Cahill started committing burglaries. These burglaries resulted in his first arrest at age twelve for larceny. He got off with a warning. The warning did not slow down young Cahill. It seemed to encourage him as he continued his criminal behavior. After several more arrests he was eventually convicted of two burglary charges and was sentenced to one month of detention in Marlboro House Glasnevin. It would be his first time being locked up away from his parents. It failed to make him switch career paths. He would be sent to several juvenile institutions in the years to come. <br /> <br /> By 1967 Cahill was considered a professional burglar. He and his brothers worked at night. Operating from their home and headquarters in the Hollyfield buildings in Rathmines, a suburb on the southside of Dublin. During the early 1970s, Cahill teamed up with another group of criminal brothers named Dunne. The Dunnes were skilled armed robbers, and it wasn’t long before the Cahill brothers were involved in a new staple of organized crime. <br /> <br /> <a href="{{#staticFileLink}}9236993490,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9236993490,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9236993490?profile=original" width="371" /></a>Even though Cahill (right) was a very successful gangster. Making thousands of pounds doing burglaries and robberies, he still lived in the slums of Hollyfield. It was the only place where he felt safe and protected. Proof of this was the fact that he had bought a large Mercedes and Harley Davidson motorcycle, which he parked right outside his home. The two vehicles stood out like a sore thumb and if they were owned by anyone else they would’ve been stolen or demolished. But people knew the owner was Martin Cahill, and by then that name meant something to those living in the area. <br /> <br /> Though Cahill was considered a big threat to society, no one in law enforcement expected him to take a shot at one of them. But that is exactly what he did when they came close to convicting him. <br /> <br /> Dr. James Donovan was the head of the forensic science laboratory. He was very good at what he did and thanks to his work many Dublin criminals received prison sentences. Two of those criminals were Anthony and Eddie Cahill. And Donovan was closing in on Martin as well. <br /> <br /> On January 29, 1981 Martin Cahill and Christy Dutton robbed Quintin Flynn Ltd. The company was involved in sale and hire of computer games. The two men left with 5,724.47 pounds sterling and rode off on a Kawasaki motorcycle. Not long after they were apprehended by police while they were walking on the street. At the station, officers from the technical bureau took their helmets, gloves, and jackets. Since Cahill and Dutton were not in possession of the loot or motorcycle forensic experts had to connect them to those. And Donovan was the man who found the evidence. <br /> <br /> Cahill was worried sick. He started contemplating several plans and eventually settled for a bomb. The IRA was using those, and had much success. On January 6, 1982 Dr Donovan was driving to work, when an explosion destroyed his car. But Dr Donovan survived the blast. Cahill’s plan was about to backfire.<br /> <br /> Irish police started an investigation which led them to Cahill. After the failed hit attempt, Cahill didn’t lay low, matter of fact he had committed an armed robbery a day before cops picked him up in connection to the bombing of Dr Donovan. But there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Cahill with the bombing. And to make matters worse for authorities, Cahill was acquitted of the Quintin Flynn Ltd. robbery as well. He was on his way to becoming the most feared and dangerous gangster in Ireland.<br /> <br /> And he did his best to let everyone know that he wasn’t a man to be fucked with. In his excellent book The General author Paul Williams details a story about the time Cahill felt he had been shorted by a member of his gang. <br /> <br /> Cahill and an associate pulled the man off the street and dragged him into their car. They then drove to a dilapidated house near the Hollyfield Buildings. Upstairs the suspected thief was questioned about the missing loot. Williams writes: “At first Cahill and the lieutenant gave the terrified gang member a few slaps. When he wasn’t forthcoming with what Cahill considered the truth, the man was pinned to the floor. […] The man replied that he had done nothing. Cahill then stapled each of his fingers to the floor.” The torture and interrogation went on for hours. At one point Cahill also hammered six inch nails into the victim’s hands. <br /> <br /> When the man continued to claim innocence, Cahill believed him. He then brought him to the hospital. Afterwards, he allegedly said: “People remember pain. A bullet through the head is too easy. You think of the pain before you do wrong again.”<br /> <br /> While other robbers made a switch and became more involved in drug dealing, Cahill continued his illustrious career and hatched bigger and bolder plans. In 1983 Cahill and his gang robbed O’Conner’s jewelers in Dublin and got away clean with a loot valued at 2 million pounds sterling. In 1986 Cahill executed the second biggest art theft in the world when he stole eleven of the most valuable paintings in the collection of Sir Alfred Beit. <br /> <br /> This last heist proved to be the beginning of the end for Cahill though. Law enforcement was sick of getting outsmarted by such a brazen crook and upped the ante with the formation of the so-called Tango Squad which was to bring down the crime boss. Meanwhile the media started taking notice of this new criminal mastermind who combined brain with vicious muscle as well. Another problem he faced was being a criminal in a country dominated by the IRA and Loyalist groups who were at war. At times Cahill did something that angered one of these groups. <br /> <br /> As his gang had been slowly dismantled by the Tango Squad, Cahill continued as he had before. He still felt untouchable, but things had changed. He wasn’t the man he was years before. Nor was he surrounded by the loyal tough men from years back. He was nearing his final days. <br /> <br /> During his life as a criminal, Cahill had been a major annoyance for the Irish police force, and not to mention the people who fell victim to his robberies, kidnappings, and violent behavior. But he had also pissed off a group that was neither part of the government, nor was it part of the civilian population, and though it could carry out criminal acts, it did not consider itself a criminal organization. The group I am talking about is the IRA and they were very unhappy with Cahill. <br /> <br /> On the afternoon of August 18, 1994, Cahill sat in his car waiting in front of a junction. He was on his way to returning a video tape of the movie A Bronx Tale. As he waited, a man, dressed in worker’s clothes and carrying a clipboard, walked up to his car. Before Cahill knew what was going on the man pulled out a gun and fired several bullets at his target. Afterwards, the assassin calmly took a peek inside the car to see if his target was really dead. He then got on a waiting motorcycle driven by an accomplice and drove off. <br /> <br /> In the aftermath of Cahill’s murder several groups claimed responsibility for his killing. But in the end, one group did something unheard of: they sent out a confession in which they gave every detail of the assassination. No doubt about it that this group, the IRA, was responsible. The IRA claimed they killed Cahill because of his involvement with pro-British death squads. <br /> </p>
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