The arrest of one of the seven ‘core members’ of the Kinahan cartel at his Costa del Sol hideout was a devastating blow to the Kinahan cartel.
Johnny Morrissey was apprehended by detectives from six different police departments, including the Spanish Civil Guard, Garda, and the strong DEA law enforcement agency in the United States.
The bald-headed, Greater Manchester-raised foreigner, named by US authorities earlier this year as a Kinahan enforcer and money launderer, originally smiled after being surrounded and handcuffed by police.
As he was carried away, his smile changed to a frown, and he attempted to hide his face when he realized that press photographers were ready to take a picture of him in his eye-catching tropical shorts and T-shirt.
And his wife Nicola, the chief executive officer of a Scottish vodka company linked by authorities to organized crime, lifted her middle finger as she was led away by armed Spanish police officers behind him.
Yesterday, the couple appeared in court after spending two nights in police prison.
Johnny Morrissey, depicted in the center, was apprehended by detectives from six different police departments, including the Spanish Civil Guard, Garda, and the strong DEA law enforcement agency in the United States.
His wife Nicola, depicted in the center, is the chief executive officer of a Scottish vodka company linked by authorities to organized crime. As she was escorted out of the building by armed Spanish police officers, she raised her middle finger. Yesterday, the couple appeared in court after spending two nights in police prison.
According to credible sources, Nicola was released following questioning, although her husband and a second individual apprehended as part of the police operation were held in detention.
The Spanish police have not yet issued an official statement regarding the arrests made on Monday and are not anticipated to do so until later today at the earliest.
Former Rochdale doorman Morrissey, who was known as Johnny Cash when he owned a restaurant in Cork in the 1990s, was detained on suspicion of money laundering as part of an operation spearheaded by Spanish police and coordinated over two continents.
The arrests occurred five months after the 62-year-old was identified as a major member of the Kinahan Cartel, and a week after it was revealed that Gardai were analyzing important information that may be used to prosecute members of the notorious criminal group.
Morrissey, a holder of an Irish passport, was one of seven people sanctioned in April by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of the Treasury (OFAC).
Christy Kinahan, pictured, is one of the leaders of the Kinahan Cartel.
US authorities stated of the underworld figure, who was so close to alleged cartel boss Daniel Kinahan that he was invited to his wedding in Dubai in the summer of 2017, that ‘John Morrissey has worked for the Kinahan Organised Crime Group (KOCG) for several years, including as an enforcer, and facilitates international drug shipments from South America for the organization. John Morrissey engages in money laundering as well.
He was listed on the list with others such as Daniel, who was described in the same statement as “having a key role in organizing the drug supply in Ireland,” his father Christopher, and seasoned Dublin-born criminal Bernard Clancy.
Christopher Kinahan Jr., Daniel Kinahan’s ‘advisor and closest confidant’ Sean McGovern, and Ian Dixon, who was arrested for the 2015 Costa del Sol murder of Gary Hutch but never charged, were all listed in a $5 million (£4.3 million) reward for information.
Nero Drinks Company Ltd, a Glasgow-based vodka company owned by Nicola Morrissey, a Scottish mother, and her husband, was one of three companies named on the list and prohibited from dealing in the United States.
Johnny, who courted celebrities such as models and reality stars as the ambassador of his wife’s drinks company, fled Ireland more than two decades ago after allegedly plotting to harm a Criminal Assets Bureau officer there.
As part of the operation that led to Morrissey’s arrest, it is suspected that Spanish police executed warrantless searches at a number of sites, including his home near Marbella and business addresses.
Pictured is 2017 Spanish police footage showing the arrest of another member of the Kinahan Cartel.
It was led by the elite Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard Unit, which was responsible for investigating and prosecuting the most serious forms of crime and organized crime.
Officers of the rapid-response Civil Guard units USECIC and GAR, who are trained to handle everything from nuclear threats to terrorist attacks, also provided assistance.
Morrissey is the first of the seven KOGC ‘important participants’ designated and sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to be arrested since the list was made public.
Although he is the first to fall, we don’t expect him to be the last, and we’re working to ensure that others will soon follow.
Gary Vickery, 38 years old, is shown as another member of the Kinahan Cartel.
A rivalry between the Kinahan cartel and the rival Hutch gang has resulted in the deaths of at least 18 persons in Ireland and Spain, gaining the cartel worldwide prominence. The fugitive leader Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch was apprehended in August 2017 near his hideout in the Costa del Sol resort of Fuengirola. He is scheduled to stand trial later this year for the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in Dublin in February 2016.
In a program aired last year, BBC’s Panorama highlighted Daniel Kinahan’s dominance in global boxing, leading to calls for tougher regulation of the sport.
Tyson Fury reportedly dismissed the Irishman as his negotiator after his ‘vital’ role in brokering a two-fight contract with his rival Anthony Joshua was described. On Instagram, Fury had already thanked Kinahan.
The 45-year-old Dubliner, who currently resides in Dubai, maintained after the Panorama show, “I am not a member of any criminal organization or plot.” I am without convictions. None. Not only in Ireland, but globally.”
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