Dublin's cocaine problem and the Kinahans

OK so seemingly cocaine is a big problem in Dublin now as well as Belfast. In Belfast the Loyalist paramilitaries are shooting each other over the drug trade now. This article from 2022 talks about a Loyalist from East Belfast named Colin Joseph Garrett who brought two kilos of cocaine from Dublin with his co-accused, taxi driver David John Ghent from Hollyfields in Dungannon. Previous courts have been told police believe Garrett is a wholesale drugs distributor for the UVF in east Belfast, while Ghent is alleged to have links to organized crime gangs in Dublin and had brought the cocaine over the border.

So who's in charge of the cocaine in Dublin? Is it the Kinahan crime group? I don't know. In 2012 Irish Central reported that "Dessie O'Hare, the republican paramilitary who was once the most wanted man in Ireland, delivered a glowing tribute to the slain crime godfather Eamon Kelly at his funeral in Dublin this week. According to the Irish Independent, dozens of figures from the Irish criminal underworld turned out to pay their respects to the 65-year-old convicted cocaine smuggler who was shot dead by the dissident group the Real IRA last week. Kelly is believed to have been shot dead by dissidents in retaliation for the murder of Real IRA faction leader Alan Ryan last September."

I remember hearing about the Real IRA dissidents in Dublin fighting with the IRA over drugs. One group claimed to be fighting against drugs while the other group was accused of selling drugs. Yet some claimed they both sold drugs and were shooting each other simply because they were rivals in the drug trade. I don't know. It's a bit complected so it is. This podcast I feel is credible:

Google AI is reporting that "In the late 1990s, Christy Kinahan Snr was imprisoned in Ireland's high-security Portlaoise Prison alongside members of the Provisional IRA and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). Reports indicate he avoided the IRA, who historically targeted drug dealers."

Those are names I'm familiar with. "The relationship turned into open warfare after the 2016 attack on a Kinahan weigh-in event in Dublin, carried out by the Hutch gang (rivals) in collaboration with republican paramilitaries."

"In retaliation for the Regency attack, the Kinahan cartel targeted members of the Real IRA (New IRA) in 2016, specifically murdering Michael 'Mickey' Barr in Dublin, believing he was involved in sourcing weapons for the attack."

"During the Hutch-Kinahan feud, some dissident republicans (New IRA) aligned with the Hutch side, while some loyalist paramilitaries (UVF) and members of the INLA were associated with the Kinahan cartel in drug-dealing activities."

So if the IRA and the INLA have started drug trafficking as well as the Real IRA dissidents, then that's a big change from the /80s making it one great big mess. My point is, looks like I was wrong. Looks like the Kinahan crime group is real. They and the Hutch group seemingly both have ties to paramilitaries. I just needed to confirm it through reliable sources not the mainstream media. There is however, something shady about some of the allegations about the Kinahans coming from the Intelligence community which isn't surprising.