This is the dramatic moment a notorious crime boss who ran a multi-million-pound drug empire is arrested at the airport.
Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh, 54, was arrested at Birmingham Airport when police swooped in and shut down his criminal network.
Footage shows the high-ranking member of the Kinahan organised crime group getting targeted as he tried to return to the UK, BirminghamLive reports.
Kavanagh lived with his family in a fortified mansion, complete with reinforced doors and bulletproof glass, in Tamworth, Staffs.,
Video shows the man who acted as the figurehead of the Kinahan organisation in the UK being told what he is being arrested for before being hauled off to a police van.
When the National Crime Agency raided his home in January 2019, officers found numerous weapons, including an illegal stun gun - for which he got a three-year jail sentence.
Officers also seized cash worth around £35,000 in various currencies, including sterling, euros and Emirati dirhams, which were found in drawers, bags and down the back of sofa cushions.
The raid was part of a wider investigation to bring down the network, as the NCA also targeted Kavanagh's associates - Dublin-born brothers-in-law Gary Vickery, 39, and Daniel Canning, 43.
Investigators were able to evidence their involvement in large scale drug shipments worth around £30million - and the movement of cash and weapons.
Kavanagh, Canning and Vickery all admitted conspiring to import class A and B drugs, and money laundering, while Canning also admitted possessing a firearm and ammunition.
At Ipswich Crown Court today, Kavanagh was sentenced to 21 years in prison, Canning was jailed for 19-and-a-half years, and Vickery got a 20-year sentence.
NCA Deputy Director of Investigations Matt Horne said: “Kavanagh was a high ranking member of the Kinahan cartel, an organised crime group synonymous with acts of violence. He was their main man in the UK.
“Through their criminal connections overseas, his organisation was able to organise, import and distribute drugs worth many millions of pounds.
“These men considered themselves to be untouchable, but we were able to systematically dismantle the group and prove that this was not the case.”
Deputy Director Matt Horne said: “This investigation involved co-operation with An Garda Síochána in Ireland. We are determined to work together to target criminal networks impacting communities on both sides of the Irish sea.
“Our financial investigation into Kavanagh and his associates is ongoing, with a view to stripping them of any assets they have acquired through their criminality. This is not the end of our activity targeting this group.”
Kate Anderson, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor of the CPS International Justice and Organised Crime Division said: “This organised crime group imported millions of pounds worth of dangerous drugs into the country, concealing them in machinery in a bid to evade detection.
“They showed no regard for the communities they were putting at risk and pleaded guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence showing their part in this illicit operation.
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“Cases like this demonstrate our commitment to disrupting organised criminal activity - and ensuring they face justice.”
Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll, who heads Organised and Serious Crime within An Garda Síochána, said: “The successful outcome to court proceedings in the UK today represents a very positive development in efforts being made by law enforcement authorities, at an international level, to tackle criminality engaged in by organised crime groups and networks that have an international dimension and who, through the sale of drugs and other crimes, have a negative impact on communities across the globe.
“An Garda Síochána has forged a very powerful working relationship with the UK’s National Crime Agency, which is assisting in ensuring that communities in the UK and Ireland are better protected from organised crime”.
