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Two Kinahan cartel ‘top tier’ operators classified as ‘hit-team organisers’ to walk free from Irish prisons in weeks

• Published: 8:00, 15 Oct 2023

TWO of the Kinahan mob’s “top tier” operators in Ireland will walk free from prison next month, The Irish Sun on Sunday can reveal.

Gardai will already be on high alert as Liam Brannigan and Dean Howe — classified by investigators as the cartel’s main “hit-team organisers” — prepare to be released from Portlaoise and Mountjoy prisons.

Although Brannigan, 40, only received an eight-year term in April 2020 for his role in the botched hit on north Dublin criminal Gary Hanley, he’s being released now due to remission and because he has been in custody since November 6, 2017.

Howe — who was once involved in a plot to kill Martin ‘The Viper’ Foley — walks free after serving over half of the six-year sentence he received in March 2020 over the plot to kill Hanley.

Once freed, they will be back on the streets as two of the narco-terrorist gang’s most senior members from the south inner city.

Others still inside include Fat Fred-die Thompson, 42, the pair’s mentor Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh, 57, and hitman for hire Alan Wilson, 42.

Investigators are now waiting to see if Brannigan, will return to his old stomping ground in the south inner city or join other senior figures hiding out in Dubai.

At present, he’s classified as one of the cartel’s “main organisers” on the ground and was once secretly recorded offering to do a hit when he said: “I’d do all this myself — it would put you in an early grave.”

Howe, 37, has links to the UK and could move there due to Garda successes against Daniel Kinahan’s mob.

A number of meetings are expected to be held between officers in Kevin Street Station and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau ahead of the pair’s release.

One investigator told us: “They are both top-tier gang members and have been involved in organised crime for over 20 years.

Many of the senior cartel figures are now behind bars but there are obvious concerns to be addressed ahead of these releases.

“There hasn’t been a murder in the (Hutch-Kinahan) feud since 2018 but Gardai will still have to be cautious due to their role in previously identifying targets for the cartel.”

And as Gardai prepare for their release, we also reveal for the first time today that Brannigan is suspected of involvement in the plot to kill John Hutch in September 2016.

On that occasion, gun for hire Michael Carroll, 43, used two weapons to fire shots at Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch’s brother in a failed hit.

Although Brannigan was never charged over the botched hit, Gardai suspect he was the man who recruited Carroll because the pair were from the same area and because Carroll owed a debt.

SUSPECTED OF EATING SIM

They also suspected he played a role in identifying John Hutch as a target as part of the cartel’s onslaught against the Hutch family.

Howe was also arrested by Gardai after the attempt on John Hutch’s life. At the time of the arrest by the Emergency Response Unit, he was suspected of eating a SIM card from a mobile phone.

Although suspected of having knowledge of the planned hit on John Hutch, there wasn’t enough evidence to bring any charges against the pair.

Despite the gang’s failure to murder The Monk’s brother, the pair continued their association with the cartel when they were involved in the plot to kill Gary Hanley in late 2017.

Unknown to Brannigan, his every word at the time was being secretly recorded by the GNDOCB.

In one conversation with fellow gang member Howe during the plot to kill Hanley, Brannigan said: “I was talking to D and he said, ‘mate, relax yourself. Don’t push it. It’ll happen’.”

SECRET RECORDING

Gardai believe the ‘D’ he was referring to was Daniel Kinahan. The major gangster also spoke of D’s importance when he said to contract killer Joseph Kelly: “Mate, what is going on? I’m getting it off my man. He’s giving me death, you know what I mean.”

In another secret recording, Brannigan ordered his murder squad to “get ready and go do this s***” when targeting Hanley.

And Howe also criticised Kelly for his lack of planning on the hit when he said: “You have f***** up. What are you being paid for? We all have our jobs to do but we had to do your job. We don’t want any silly mistakes, right?”

As part of our latest revelations on the gang members, we also outline how Brannigan may have proved his loyalty to the gang when he allegedly identified gangster Gerard Eglington as a target in the Crumlin and Drimnagh feud.

As part of the plan to kill Eglington, who was shot dead during another attack in 2012, Brannigan is suspected of recruiting a prolific hitman.

But when the contract killer struck at the Blackhorse Inn, Inchicore, south Dublin, on June 25, 2011, he murdered innocent Darren Cogan, 19, instead. Brannigan was later questioned about the killing but was released without charge.

During his criminal career, Brannigan often operated in the shadows and remained loyal to his cousin Thompson.

He was a key target for Gardai under Operation Goldeneye in 2010 when he was suspected of organising a shipment of Ingram machine guns into Ireland.

On that occasion, Brannigan is believed to have used a drug addict who owed a debt to store the weapons.