Kinahan cartel links help East Belfast UVF spread into international drug trade

 • Yesterday 13:14

East Belfast UVF has taken the next step towards becoming an international drug-running gang.

Contrary to speculation that the organised crime gang had fragmented under a series of high-profile drug seizures by the North’s Paramilitary Crime Task Force – the organisation has instead spread its presence across Northern Ireland and beyond.

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Described by the Independent Reporting Commission, set up to monitor paramilitary activity, as one of the most active and dangerous criminal gangs in the country, it has continued to build its business despite increased police attention.

There had been intense speculation that the group has lost a number of lieutenants and cohorts. That has proved to be fake news.

Long-established links with organised crime south of the border have helped East Belfast establish itself as a major player in the drugs market.

It can be reported that East Belfast now commands a drug network that stretches beyond the city to Lisburn, Banbridge and Mid Ulster.

It can also be revealed that the crime gang has claimed a slice of the drug market in Glasgow.

Deep-rooted connections with pro-UVF crime bosses in the Scottish city have enabled the organisation to get a foothold – for the first time – in a market outside Northern Ireland.

In effect East Belfast has transitioned from dealing to supplying.

Well-placed sources tell us that contacts with Dublin-based organised crime, including the Kinahan cartel, have helped establish East Belfast bosses as significant players in the market.

“East Belfast has people in towns across Northern Ireland but also across the water,” said a source.

“They have quietly spread out from their power base, formed partnerships and alliances with other drug gangs. Northern Ireland is now about who controls the drugs trade, and don’t under-estimate the influence from south of the border.”

The source said East Belfast now moves drugs from both north and south of the border.

The gang’s connections with organised crime in Britain is nothing new.

The gang has links with mobsters in the north of England and an arms cache found buried in a forest glade a number of years ago in fact came from a gang in Manchester.

In those days East Belfast was a customer – now it is a supplier.

A £3m drugs seizure at Belfast docks in February 2022 was an indication of the scale of East Belfast’s operation.

The drugs were set to be divided between a number of organised crime gangs, but East Belfast were the brokers for the deal.

Initially police discovered £1.8m of drugs when they intercepted the lorry but acting on information received, discovered a further £1.2m worth concealed under the floor of the truck.

The scale of the seizure – one of the largest ever recovered in Northern Ireland – was an indication of how far East Belfast had come and how they are now dealing with significant drug shipments.

At the time of the seizure the PSNI said it was an indication that organised crime gangs here are now working with criminal structures in Britain and further afield.

The setback raised alarm bells.

Only a select number of people knew about the deal and it prompted a witch-hunt for a suspected informant.

It prompted bosses to weed out people they didn’t trust and the result is a slimmed-down operation with all-Ireland, British and international connections.