Why is Gerry Hutch still being targeted?
Gerry Hutch was not in Ireland when armed gardaí and officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) raided his Clontarf home early on Wednesday morning.
The 61-year-old gangland leader has usually remained just out of the grasp of both gardaí and his criminal rivals. But on Wednesday night it emerged he had been arrested in Spain as part of a multi-agency policing operation.
Despite being accused of carrying out the biggest cash heists in the State’s history and his alleged involvement in the Hutch-Kinahan feud which claimed around 20 lives, Hutch has managed to mostly avoid serious convictions.
However, Wednesday’s search is a reminder that the law has not given up on the father of five or his criminal associates, despite his dramatic acquittal in the Special Criminal Court last year for the 2016 Regency gun attack.
This time, it is the Spanish police Hutch must worry about – in particular the Guardia Civil, which investigates serious organised crime in the country.
It is investigating international money laundering on a huge scale. As part of the latest operation, they searched ten properties in Spain linked to the Hutch organised crime group. Garda detectives were sent to Spain to assist in the operations.
Using a request for “Mutual Legal Assistance”, Spanish officers requested gardaí also conduct a search of Hutch’s Clontarf home, where he lives with his family while not at his property in Lanzarote.
Officers from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, assisted by the Cab and an officer from the Guardia Civil, searched the property for any documents or electronic evidence which may aid in the money laundering investigation.
They were backed up by the Emergency Response Unit, the Garda’s most elite firearms unit – an indication that the force continues to take the threat posed by the Hutch gang seriously.
The timing of the searches may raise a few questions, given they come just days after reports were put about by Hutch’s associates that he is considering a run for the Dáil in the upcoming general election.
[ Gerry Hutch considers general election run to unseat Mary Lou McDonald in DublinOpens in new window ]
It seems unlikely the Spanish or Irish police launched the raids in a bid to derail Hutch’s nascent political ambitions – the Guardia Civil investigation has been ongoing for more than two years. In 2022, a separate property linked to the gang was raided by detectives in Lanzarote.
Despite the heavy involvement of An Garda Síochána, this is a Spanish investigation, meaning if there are charges to be brought against Hutch and his associates, they will almost certainly be in Spain.
The raid on Hutch’s property does not mean he is the main focus of the investigation. Sources say he is just one part of the puzzle and that he is not considered the chief target of the Guardia Civil.
But the Cab still has a file open on Hutch regarding his finances and property. Any evidence uncovered in the latest search may also prove vital to these investigations.
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