extreme violence | 

Dublin’s Kinahan cartel linked ‘Monkey Gang’ suspected in brutal torture of teen

The teen was hospitalised after the attack and it is understood a video of his torture ordeal was sent out to others in the north Dublin area

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A Dublin organised crime gang with links to the Kinahans has been expanding operations and using extreme violence to assert control, sundayworld.com can reveal.

Members of the so-called ‘Monkey Gang’ are chief suspects for the savage torture and assault of a teenage boy accused of “dipping into their drugs stock”.

The teen was hospitalised after the attack and it is understood a video of his torture ordeal was sent out to others in the north Dublin area as a warning.

The Finglas-based gang gained its nickname after gardaí seized a small monkey in a cage, as well as a huge haul of weapons and bullets, during a search operation in April 2019.

“The lad who was tortured had been making a big name for himself selling drugs [for the gang],” a source said.

“But he has now gone into hiding and even hardened criminals in the area are shocked about what happened.”

Gardaí had not received an official complaint from the teen in the wake of the attack, the source added.

‘Everyone seems to be going through them now to buy their drugs’

It comes as the criminal gang continues to grow in influence in north Dublin’s lucrative drugs trade.

At street level, it has been using social media to deal a wide variety of drugs, particularly cocaine but also large amounts of highly potent cannabis.

In one social media ‘advertisement’ seen by sundayworld.com, the gang is offering a gram of cocaine for €50, as well as other drugs.

This includes high-strength varieties of cannabis herb at €50 for a few grams or up to €130 for half an ounce of the potent strains.

The social media messages include a mobile phone number and state the drug-dealing service is available “24/7”.

The gang had pushed out other drug dealers in the local area and was now “in a position of control”, a source said.

‘“Other dealers will be aware of what happened that young fella and they now know that they face the prospect of extreme violence if they go against them,” the source added. “The fact that they can sell these items for such a relatively cheap price shows that they must have a huge amount of what they consider stock.

“Everyone seems to be going through them now to buy their drugs.”

Another dealer in Finglas has recently fled the area after being forced to hand over his mobile phone

A young woman who is related to the suspected leader of the gang is understood to be one of its main drug distributors at a local level.

Another dealer in Finglas has recently fled the area after being forced to hand over his mobile phone containing the contact details of his customers, as well as his electric bikes.

“This is typical of what they have been doing,” the source added.

The gang has links to crime organisations in the UK and has previously been associated with the Kinahan Organised Crime Group.

Gardaí suspect it has long been involved in the distribution of firearms to gangs around the country as well as in the capital.

It is also connected to African criminals who have been spotted at properties linked to the gang in recent times.

These individuals are suspected of being involved in the export of stolen car parts to their native countries from Ireland, which is another of the Monkey Gang’s main criminal enterprises.

Gardaí have had some successes against the gang in recent times, including last October when it was the subject of nine garda raids.

The wider gang has been the subject of a number of operations by the Criminal Assets Bureau, including a massive raid in Co Meath in November 2018, when officers seized €1.5m in cash, as well as other items.

Two main players in the mob were busted with €220,000 of drugs cash in Amsterdam in 2018, as part of a major operation by heavily armed members of the Dutch police force.

The duo spent a number of months in custody in the Netherlands before being bailed and returned to Ireland.

Gang member Bernard ‘Gan’ Joyce (50) previously served a four-year jail sentence for possession of more than €900,000 in illegal cash connected to the Kinahan cartel after a garda seizure in Co Wexford in 2018.