A notorious crime boss nicknamed The Bomber who ran a multi-million-pound drug empire from the comfort of his bulletproof Midlands mansion has been jailed. Irish national Thomas Kavanagh, 54, and his cronies Gary Vickery, 39, and 43-year-old Daniel Canning tried to smuggle £30m worth of drugs into Britain - and saw themselves as "untouchable".
The three men were "very significant players" in the notorious Irish organised crime group known as the Kinahan Cartel. Kavanagh, who was referred to as 'The Gaffer' in text messages, ran the gang's UK operations from his luxury mansion in Tamworth, Staffs, where he lived with his wife and kids.
The property had been fortified with reinforced doors and bulletproof windows, and contained an arsenal of weapons including knives, baseball bats and swords. Police raided the fortress in January 2019 shortly after Kavanagh was arrested at Birmingham Airport while on his way back from a family holiday in Mexico.
