A Spanish house listed by US authorities as linked to mob boss Daniel Kinahan has been demolished to make way for new homes, the Irish Mirror can reveal.
Today our crime team’s special investigation on the Kinahan cartel’s massive multi-million Costa Del Sol property portfolio has uncovered an abandoned empire in ruins.
As part of our probe, we visited No2 Avda Juan Ramon Jimenez in Urbanizacion Cortijo Blanco, Marbella, Spain — an address the US Department of Treasury stated was directly linked to crime boss Daniel Kinahan.
READ MORE: Here lies a now boarded-up underground site where mob boss Daniel Kinahan’s boxing gym once stood
But we were stunned to find a massive green fence covers the site of a demolished building in the otherwise flourishing popular housing estate.
A huge hole in the ground marks the space where a luxury villa once stood — which the feds linked to the crime boss.
Property developers now intend to construct five “unique beachside villas” on the 611m-square site.
Kinahan, who for years has tried to cement his image as a legitimate businessman, allegedly lived at the address, which we found is less than 10 minutes drive from the former gym of MTK Marbella – a boxing business he co-founded in 2012.
It stood in an area where there are many luxury pool-side villas worth €2 million, and stand right by the sea among the area’s most elite properties.
Just metres up the road stands an Irish bar and a hugely popular hotel, where many tourists stay for the summer holidays.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, stunned locals said the house known as No2 Avda Juan Ramon Jimenez was demolished “a number of years ago”.
They also confirmed the street address has even been changed in recent years — now to Calle Antonio Mingote.
The house was just one of several multi-million euro properties the Kinahans inhabited on the Costa Del Sol, before they all bolted to Dubai.
And just 10 minutes up the road stands another one of their luxury properties, named by the US Treasury department this week. Hidden behind a private, gated community stands the Torre Bermeja estate — a millionaire’s row of apartments close to Estepona’s Golden Mile.
The complex has two outdoor pools, underground parking and 24-hour security.
Our pictures show the entrance of the estate that Christy Kinahan Sr called home for many years before Operation Shovel ruined his retirement plans.
His apartment, which was worth an estimated €800,000, was raided as part of Spanish police’s operation against the mob back in 2010.
He is thought to have abandoned the property in the years afterwards — though it was still named this week as being linked to the Dapper Don.
Now Kinahan Sr is said to be living in Dubai with his two sons Daniel and Christy Jr, although his exact address is not known.
Spain was not only the stronghold of the Kinahan cartel, but became a place in which they could forge alliances with other mobsters and strengthen their international connections.
One such connection was with British gangster Johnny Morrissey, who this week was named as being one of seven Kinahan cartel senior members sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury.
Morrissey, himself a major gangster in his own right, became an enforcer and senior member of Kinahan’s mob in recent years.
According to the US authorities, he continues to live in Spain — with them publicly naming his address No 46B Dinamarca in Malaga, this week.
We decided to pay a visit to the house — finding a massive, fortified mansion overlooking the sea.
It was adorned with numerous statues and CCTV cameras but appeared to be unoccupied.
If Morrissey fled following last week’s bombshell announcement by the US authorities, it would make him the last of the sanctioned seven to bolt from Spain.
He had been living there for two decades and was at Daniel Kinahan’s 2017 wedding in Dubai.
According to the US government: “John Morrissey has worked for the KOCG for several years, including as an enforcer, and facilitates international drug shipments for the organisation from South America.”
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