Irish Kinahan cartel suspected behind Cyprus murder plot

The Irish Kinahan cartel are alleged to have plotted to murder British twin brothers in Cyprus, according to an international investigation which found that smaller criminal networks in Ireland and Sweden may have been recruited to carry out the operation. The investigation by the Irish Times, the Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network, Norway’s VG and Swedish public broadcaster SVT said Irish security sources believe individuals with close ties to the Kinahan organisation were behind the alleged order. Eight people have been arrested in Cyprus in connection with the case, including one Irish national, two Norwegians and five Swedes. The two alleged targets, who had been staying in the Famagusta area, have since departed Cyprus. The alleged operation began on August 10 through the Signal messaging application, when a user calling himself “Sponge Jobb” offered a gun, knife and motorcycle to someone willing to carry out a murder somewhere in the EU. The profile had posted in a Signal group seeking hitmen to carry out a murder in the European Union in return for 650,000 Danish kroner, or about €87,000. The alleged organiser reportedly told the undercover officer that there was “a job in Cyprus” involving the execution of two twins who were on holiday on the island. He allegedly claimed that a person already inside Cyprus would provide a pistol, motorcycle and accommodation, and also claimed that Cypriot authorities would be bribed to stay away from the area where the murder was to take place. The fee was approximately €85,000, according to evidence presented before the Famagusta district court. Danish police were already monitoring the group as part of an investigation into networks offering what authorities describe as “violence as a service”. An undercover officer posed as a contract killer and was told the target was a pair of British twins in Cyprus. The officer travelled to Cyprus on August 24, where his movements were monitored by local police’s special branch in cooperation with Europol. Upon his arrival, the undercover officer was allegedly directed to locations in Larnaca and Ayia Napa to collect money. He initially received €200 and was later directed to collect another €1,000 from a cardboard box placed behind rubbish bins. Police subsequently arrested an Irish suspect after identifying him from footage showing a man leaving money at a designated location. Investigators noticed he was wearing the same black shorts and sliders as the man in the footage and had a distinctive tattoo. Further surveillance showed the suspect meeting two Norwegian men at the Ayia Napa marina before a photograph of the twins was sent to the undercover officer. The arrests of the first three suspects on August 27 prevented the alleged murder plot from being carried out. Five Swedish nationals were subsequently arrested after Swedish authorities alerted their Cypriot counterparts that a suspected perpetrator had travelled to the island. Europol alerted Cyprus on September 4 regarding a 21-year-old Swedish man who had arrived in Cyprus the previous day and was considered by Swedish authorities to be possibly an executioner. Police subsequently placed the man and others under surveillance in Paphos. The five Swedish suspects were eventually arrested after officers observed them travelling together and meeting other individuals. Police searches recovered a pistol, surgical masks, disposable gloves, six mobile phones, two batons and more than €2,600 in cash. Investigators also found footage on some of the phones showing guns, cannabis cultivation and substances resembling cocaine. Other footage allegedly showed people being threatened with guns and subjected to severe violence. The material has been reported as part of the evidence being examined by police and does not establish who recorded or carried out the acts shown. The suspects have denied involvement or declined to answer questions. The investigation reported that the Irish suspect has family ties to the McCarthy Dundon gang in Limerick, while the two Norwegian suspects have previous convictions involving offences including weapons and drugs. According to information obtained by Cypriot authorities through Interpol, one of the Norwegian suspects has previous convictions for weapons, drugs, threats, extortion and bodily harm, while the other has convictions involving threats, firearms, bodily harm, drugs and serious fraud. The Kinahan organisation is considered one of Europe’s major organised crime groups. Irish and Scandinavian law enforcement sources told the Irish Times that larger criminal organisations have increasingly relied on smaller networks to carry out operations while limiting their own members’ exposure to arrest. Swedish police officer Theodor Smedius said, “our domestic criminal networks cooperate with other organised crime organisations throughout Europe” but declined to comment on the alleged involvement of the Kinahan organisation. The two British targets remain outside Cyprus, with their families told authorities they had not had contact with them for about two months. The motive behind the alleged plot remains unclear, while police investigations into the eight suspects and any further individuals involved are continuing.