EXCLUSIVE | 

‘Mr Big’ in hiding from Kinahan cartel after loose lips cost drug gang €11m cocaine haul

‘Mr Big’ heads up the operation from the North but is directly

answerable to the Kinahan cartel

Today at 07:55

A gang transporting £10m (€11.6m) worth of drugs had their huge shipment seized after a member of the crew became loose-lipped about their lucrative plans.

The Sunday World can reveal last month’s bust by the PSNI occurred after intelligence was passed on to police by an informant who picked up the details after being privy to a conversation about the drugs being moved into Ireland.

The development is the latest in a number of botched deliveries into Ireland in the past 18 months.

Sources say the drug gang – with connections to the Middletown Mafia and The Firm in Armagh – have lost six consignments in Dublin, Rosslare, Liverpool and in Northern Ireland.

They estimate their losses fall just short of £30m (€35m).

A Sunday World investigation discovered a man known as ‘Mr Big’ heads up the operation from the North but is directly answerable to the Kinahan cartel in the Republic.

The man, who is in his mid-sixties, has previous smuggling convictions. The Sunday World is aware of his identity but we are unable for legal reasons to expose him at this stage.

We called to his address this week but it appeared to be deserted.

Sources say he still operates by leasing to fully licensed and insured drivers, some who are unaware of the potential cargo they could be carrying across the Irish Sea.

The Sunday World spoke to one source who said he was asked to pick up a trailer belonging to the man but refused when he asked who he would be driving for. Two weeks later, the £10m haul was seized and a 39-year-old was charged in connection with it.

“I was on my way back from a job in France when I got a call asking me to pick up a container,” the southern-based driver said.

“When I found out who the job was for, I told them to f*** off. I knew there was a strong chance it would be drugs and then, lo and behold, his container is stopped with £10m of coke.

“The thing is I’m smart enough to ask questions – ask why they are offering to pay that bit more. Some of the younger drivers are either stupid, greedy or both.

“I know there has been some so-called innocent men caught up in this, but that is down to them. They see the money and just take the jobs.

“They are fools and, quite frankly, deserve what they get because there’s not a driver on the roads that doesn’t know what is happening and the risks of being caught up in it.”

‘Mr Big’ once operated a lucrative legitimate company but the lure of fast cash proved too much.

“He had a great business once – he was very respected but in the end he preferred to earn a bad pound than an honest one,” a source revealed.

We understand he is in the sights of the PSNI crime unit. The source also said that there is speculation that he has gone to ground, fearful for Kinahans’ reaction.

“There is an investigation into what the f*** went wrong,” they said. “No way was it a random check.

“Word is it was a tip-off because someone couldn’t keep their mouths shut. If I was involved in this at any level, I would be keeping more than my head down.

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