Business partner of 'The Monk' saved from Kinahan hit as weapons - including two MP-9 machine guns - seized

Firearms seized by Gardai following a planned operation in the Cabra area at the offices of The Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau in Dublin Castle. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

Gardai believe they have foiled a gangland hit on a close business partner of ‘The Monk’ after seizing a “significant” arsenal of weapons from the Kinahan cartel.

Officers from the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB) found the weapons in a vehicle in the Cabra area of Dublin.

The arsenal included two MP-9 machine guns, two silencers and three loaded Smith & Wesson handguns.

Det Supt Tony Howard said: “These weapons are indiscriminate and are designed for one thing and one thing only, and that is to kill people.”

The senior garda said there was “no doubt” that arrests would be made in relation to the seizure, which he described as “significant”.

Gardai are probing whether a close associate and business partner of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch (inset below) was the target of the potential gangland hit.

The man, from the north inner city and aged in his early 40s, has known ‘The Monk’ since his childhood.

He has no involvement in organised crime.

However, he has previous convictions for his involvement in cigarette smuggling dating from the 1990s.

Det Supt Howard said gardai were in no doubt that somebody’s life had been saved after the arms raid at the weekend.

“We interrupted a serious criminal enterprise by seizing these weapons.

“Certainly these type of weapons could only have come from individuals who are engaged in serious organised crime,” said Det Supt Howard.

“It’s important to stress that we have saved somebody’s life by seizing them.”

He said that one line of inquiry being pursued was that the weapons were connected to an organised crime gang linked to the ongoing feud.

“One of the avenues of inquiry we will be looking at is the connection to the feud that is going on here in Dublin, but it is not the only line of inquiry we will be looking at.

“They will have to be examined by ballistics experts to tell us the history of these weapons and if they have been used before.

“It would appear to me that

they are in perfect working

order, but this will have to be confirmed by our ballistic section.”

The operation also involved members of the Special Crime Task Force (SCTF).

Herald