Notorious Kinahan cartel linked to Cyprus twin murder plot, Irish Times investigation finds

Local CrimeirelandpoliceswedenTop News Notorious Kinahan cartel linked to Cyprus twin murder plot, Irish Times investigation finds Kinahan Cartel Ireland Cyprus Relevant News Guards cut for ex-speakers, widows after Law Office opinion 9 September 2026 Notorious Kinahan cartel linked to Cyprus twin murder plot, Irish Times investigation finds 9 September 2026 Paphos dam reserves surge as water shortage risk fades 9 September 2026 Stelios Marathovouniotis 9 September 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Irish security sources believe the plot to kill British twin brothers in Cyprus was ultimately commissioned by veteran criminals with close links to the Kinahan cartel, working through lower-tier criminal networks in Ireland and Sweden, according to an investigation by The Irish Times, carried out in co-operation with the Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network (CIRN), Norway’s VG and Sweden’s SVT. The Kinahan group, considered one of Europe’s largest cocaine importers, remains a formidable force but its reach has been curtailed by law enforcement in recent years, with many of its European contacts either jailed or on the run, according to the investigation. To compensate, the gang has entered into relationships with lower-tier criminal groups, including Sweden’s Foxtrot network and Ireland’s McCarthy-Dundon gang, using them as foot soldiers for dangerous work on the Continent and insulating its own members from arrest, gardaí and a Scandinavian criminal justice source told the newspaper. Police say the arrests of the first three suspects on August 27th brought the plot to an abrupt halt — but those behind it were not ready to abandon the plan. Cypriot police were warned by Swedish authorities that a suspected hitman had arrived on the island from Stockholm; they placed him under surveillance alongside another recent arrival from Sweden who had previously been arrested on suspicion of commissioning a murder in Stockholm. That evening, police arrested both men along with three other Swedish suspects, recovering a pistol, medical masks and disposable gloves in follow-up searches. All five denied wrongdoing and said they were on holiday. In total, eight people have now been arrested in the case: an Irish national, two Norwegians and five Swedes. None has been charged; police say all are being investigated for organised crime offences, including conspiracy to murder and participation in a criminal group. Cypriot police remain in contact with Irish police over the Irish suspect’s background through the Europol communications channel. Searches of the first three suspects’ apartments turned up six mobile phones, two expandable batons and more than €2,600 in cash. CIRN reported that investigators found a video of a pistol and magazine in a briefcase, along with footage of someone processing a substance resembling cannabis, on the Irish suspect’s phone; on the younger Norwegian suspect’s phone, they found a video of a man being tortured by a masked assailant, and another man restrained in a chair with duct tape over his mouth. The Irish suspect’s family has links to the McCarthy-Dundon gang, which is involved in drug trafficking and extortion in Limerick city, the investigation found. Cypriot prosecutors allege he was responsible for liaising with the hitman and passing him money during his stay on the island. The 33-year-old, from Co Limerick, flew in from the UK on August 17th; unlike his alleged co-conspirators, his record in Ireland amounts to a handful of road traffic convictions, including an aggressive drink-driving arrest. He has denied wrongdoing, saying he had been on holiday in Cyprus with two women when he met one of the Norwegian suspects, who he said asked him to drop money off as a favour, telling him it was owed to a friend. Two Norwegian men with organised crime links arrived in Cyprus from Oslo on August 11th and 15th. The younger of the two has convictions in Norway for firearms, assault, drugs and fraud; the older has convictions relating to weapons and drugs. Both refused to answer police questions; a lawyer for the younger man told VG he denies involvement and is confident of acquittal. The plot began on August 10th with a Signal message from a user called Sponge Jobb, whose profile picture was the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants, offering a gun, knife and motorbike for a hitman to carry out a murder “somewhere in the EU.” The fee offered was around €85,000, equivalent to 650,000 Danish kroner, according to testimony the Famagusta District Court heard, as previously reported by philenews. Danish police, already monitoring the group as part of a wider effort against so-called “violence-as-a-service” networks, had an undercover officer respond and pose as a hitman-for-hire; Sponge Jobb told him the job would take place in Cyprus, targeting a pair of British twins holidaying on the island, with the possibility of a third job if the hit succeeded. The Dane flew in on August 24th and was placed under discreet surveillance by Cyprus’s Special Investigative Team — known informally as “Cyprus’s FBI” — working with Europol. The officer was directed over Signal to a self-service laundromat to collect payment. Photographs and video were sent to help him find the drop, including one showing a man in black shorts and slippers placing an envelope on a parked car’s wheel, and another showing a hand with a distinctive tattoo pointing to the spot; money for the operation was reportedly left at more than one location over the course of the operation. When the officer could not find the money, the Irish suspect arrived and searched the area before leaving; police stopped him nearby, noted the same trousers, slippers and tattoo, then released him under close surveillance. The officer was later sent a photograph of the twins, and police observed the Irish suspect meeting the two Norwegians at a premises on the marina in Ayia Napa. “This is a fairly typical violence-as-a-service set-up,” Teodor Smedius, a superintendent at the Swedish Police Authority’s National Operations Department, told SVT. He said the operatives recruited for this job skewed older than the “typical child soldiers” used domestically, since older recruits travel more easily and attract less attention. He would not comment on the alleged role of Kinahan cartel members but said: “It is absolutely clear that our domestic criminal networks cooperate with other organised criminal networks across Europe.” A similar pattern surfaced in Limerick in June, when a Swedish man was killed in a car crash shortly after arriving in Ireland, a loaded gun found at his feet; gardaí believe he had been hired by a Limerick-based gang to kill a member of a rival faction. The twins – described in earlier philenews reporting as British nationals with criminal records of their own who had holidayed in Cyprus’s Famagusta district weeks before the plot and appeared to be planning a return visit — remain missing. Police have established they were in Cyprus but left the island recently, and their family has told police they have not been seen in two months. No motive for the alleged plot has been disclosed. Read more: Cyprus twin murder plot followed ‘violence-as-a-service’ model, Swedish police say Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Guards cut for ex-speakers, widows after Law Office opinion Paphos dam reserves surge as water shortage risk fades Cyprus twin murder plot followed ‘violence-as-a-service’ model, Swedish police say Egypt to join Cyprus independence parade for first time On this day: Queen Elizabeth becomes the longest reigning monarch of the UK in 2015 British airport chaos disrupts flights to and from Cyprus (photos+videos) Police accused of colluding with criminals; Fytiris vows clean-up Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.