Gardai have dealt another hammer blow to Daniel Kinahan’s mob after cops seized millions of euro worth of cash and drugs – including cocaine hidden in champagne.
Officers dived into the River Liffey after three suspects tried to escape a Garda dragnet.
Detectives were last night questioning seven suspects over the seizures – believed to be linked to Kinahan.
A source said last night: “This will ruin his day.
READ MORE: Gardai had to sweep churches for bombs and man rooftops for Hutch wakes and funerals
“He has been under pressure for months now and this will devastate him.”
The seizures were made in Dublin on Wednesday and yesterday – and included suspected cocaine that had been infused into champagne and wine.
The bizarre find was made on Wednesday when detectives from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau raided a house in Beaumont, north Dublin.
Gardai said they found a number of suspicious bottles at the house and when they were examined they were found to contain wine and champagne that had been infused with suspected cocaine.
One man was arrested at the scene and he was being held at the nearby Ballymun Garda Station last night.
But a few hours after that raid, GNDOCB officers mounted another operation – and stopped a car connected to the Kinahan cartel on the M50 motorway on the outskirts of Dublin.
Three men fled from the car as it was stopped and dived into the nearby River Liffey in a desperate attempt to get away from gardai, but officers jumped in after them and managed to catch two of the suspects.
Other detectives on the team also searched properties in nearby Palmerstown and in central Dublin – and found drugs and cash worth more than €2 million.
Three men were arrested during the searches and were brought to Garda stations along with the two suspects fished out of the Liffey, Gardai then spent a day hunting the sixth gang member who escaped them down the river and made their move against him yesterday.
That meant seven people were in custody last night over the two operations – and one of them was a serious criminal connected to the cartel led by Daniel Kinahan, 44.
It’s understood that man, who was previously charged over a major drugs seizure, had only recently returned to his native Dublin from England.
Gardai suspect he used associates from north inner city Dublin for the Kinahan operation – but several foreign nationals were also detained as part of the major garda probe.
All six suspects for the Palmerstown incident were being held in Garda stations around Dublin last night and can be held for up to a week.
And late last night, gardai said the man held over the Beaumont seizure was charged and will appear in court in Dublin later today.
Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll, who is in charge of the Garda fight against the Kinahan mob and other major gangs, yesterday said the two-day operation was significant – and a new drugs trafficking route had been uncovered.
He said: “The outcome of operational activity undertaken by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, supported by a number of other specialised units within the Garda Síochána, over the past twenty-four hours, is very significant and reflects exceptional policing skills along with dedication and bravery on the part of the personnel involved.
“Arising from the global aspect of the drug supply networks that deliver drugs to cities and towns in Ireland, Northern Ireland, the UK and elsewhere in Europe, the Garda Siochana has forged particularly strong and productive relationships with law enforcement entities in many countries across a number of continents.
“Again today the Garda Siochana and the people of Ireland reap the benefits of the Garda Siochana’s outreach at a global level.
“Large quantities of drugs have been seized, along with a significant quantity of money suspected to be proceeds of drug trafficking. Persons believed to operate at a significant level within the world of organised crime have been identified and arrested.
“A drug trafficking route has been identified and disrupted and a new method of concealing controlled substances has been identified and exposed”.
The operation comes as Daniel Kinahan remains isolated in his Dubai bolthole – after US authorities put a $5million bounty on his head.
The Americans also put a similar reward out for his father Christy (64) and his brother Christopher (41) – the two other leaders of the cartel.
The Kinahans can now not fly on any American-registered planes and their assets have been frozen.
Four close associates were also hit with similar sanctions – but some 600 people, many of whom have no involvement in crime, were also placed on a no-fly list to America because of past relationships with Kinahan.
That list includes boxer Tyson Fury – who was sensationally barred from entering America last Friday as he tried to board a plane from Manchester to New York.
Mr Fury, 33, has no links to criminality – but was a former pal of Kinahan from the mobster’s involvement in boxing.
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