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TROUBLE HUTCH

Kinahan cartel lieutenant’s weapons cache found in car revealed as thug had mass card in bulletproof vest when arrested

The guns were to be used to target senior Hutch figures

• , Crime Editor

• Published: 8:00, 7 Apr 2024

• Crime Editor

• Published: Invalid Date,

KINAHAN lieutenant Graham Gardner was nabbed by cops with murdered Regency hotel victim David Byrne’s mass card tucked inside his bulletproof vest.

And today we reveal images of the cache of weapons seized from Gardner during that bust.

He is serving a nine-year term for controlling a cartel arms dump.

The weapons discovered by gardai included two MP9 machine guns, two silencers, three Smith & Wesson revolvers, 107 rounds of ammunition and three loaded magazines.

They were found in a Subaru car parked in an underground car park in Cabra, Dublin, in November 2016.

A gun was also found in the glove box of a car parked up with the weapons when gardai swooped.Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau investigators believed the guns were to be used to target senior Hutch figures still living in Dublin’s north inner city.

Following the discovery of the weapons, Gardner later fled to the UK before he was finally caught and brought back to Ireland in 2019.

One prison source told us: “Along with Declan Brady, he’s one of the main men in the prison.

“He has a lot of influence and is often boasting about his connections to the cartel over the years.”The car with the weapons stashed inside was discovered when Gardner was stopped by officers and found with the vehicle’s key.

As part of our latest revelations on the crisis-hit mob, we also reveal details of Gardner’s exchanges with gardai when he was first arrested.

Moment Kinahan enforcer Johnny Morrissey’s home raided by cops as he sat bare-chested

When asked how his DNA was found on the weapons, the Kinahan cartel thug replied: “I can’t explain it because I never touched them.”

And when asked why he had a bulletproof vest on, Gardner replied: “The vest has nothing to do with anything.

“I wear it every day. When David was killed, we just got them then.

Murdered pal

“I know David about ten years. Just knew him from being out and in the pub. His ma gave the mass cards to family and friends he knew.

“Stick it in the vest, keeps me safe probably.

“After David was shot, loads of his friends and stuff were getting shot, so it was better to wear it and be safe than sorry.”

And when asked if he was part of the bloody Kinahan/Hutch feud, he replied: “No comment.”