Close associate of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch arrested in Spain

GERARD COUZENS

A Close associate of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch wanted by Ireland has been held in Lanzarote on a European Arrest Warrant.

Spanish National Police officers took him into custody this morning ahead of his appearance before a Madrid-based judge so he could be asked whether he consented or not to extradition.

Well-placed Spanish sources insisted today the arrest was unconnected to the Garda corruption probe in line with reports in Ireland, and revealed it was linked to alleged money laundering offences.

Hutch himself was arrested in Lanzarote in October 2024 on money laundering allegations and remains under investigation on the Spanish isle along with 10 other people.

A Lanzarote judge decided late last year there was enough evidence to charge the 62-year-old - and asked public prosecutors if they wanted to formally accuse him of the crime.

The news came out as it emerged the alleged Irish crime boss was planning to run as a candidate in the upcoming Dublin Central by-election.

He is one of seven candidates who have declared their intention to stand in the May 22 vote in what promises to be a heated, high-stakes battle.

Speaking this afternoon, a well-placed Spanish source said: “The man wanted by Irish authorities, an Irish national, was held at an address in Lanzarote this morning and is now facing extradition proceedings.

“The European Arrest Warrant issued by authorities in Ireland was over suspected money laundering.”

It was not immediately clear this afternoon if the wanted man had already appeared before an extradition judge at Madrid’s Central Criminal Court, the Audiencia Nacional, via video link or would be flown to the Spanish capital for the court hearing in person.

He would be asked if he consented to extradition at that first closed-court hearing - and have the right to a second hearing if he refuses to be sent back to Ireland.

In the meantime, the judge would have to decide whether to remand him to a local jail or release him on bail pending the final decision.

The Monk, who earned his nickname due to his disciplined, vice-free lifestyle, spent nearly a fortnight on remand in prison in Lanzarote along with another suspect who was among nine people held nearly 18 months ago as part of a Spanish police money laundering investigation.

On December 10th last year, when officials confirmed public prosecutors had been asked by the investigating judge heading the case whether they intended to indict Hutch, they said: “The Investigating Court Two of Arrecife, Lanzarote, has converted the preliminary proceedings initiated against an Irish citizen investigated as the alleged leader of an international criminal gang for alleged money laundering into summary proceedings.

“The suspect was held in preventive detention between 25 October and 4 November 2024 and is currently on provisional release on bail.

“A total of 10 people are under investigation in the case.

“The proceedings have been referred to the Public Prosecutor's Office for it to report on whether or not to proceed to trial and, if so, to issue a provisional indictment.”

Hutch had to pay a €100,000 bail bond before he was allowed out of jail on November 4th 2024, but that has now been returned to him, and the travel ban imposed on him was rapidly lifted after he left prison.

It is not known if the money laundering claims said to lay behind today’s Lanzarote arrest are linked in any way to the ongoing Gerry Hutch case.

But the fact the unnamed individual was detained on an European Arrest Warrant signals any allegations of wrongdoing apparently correspond to actions in Ireland and not Spain.

The Hutch gang has been embroiled in a bitter and deadly feud with the Kinahan Organised Crime Group since 2015 after Hutch’s nephew Gary was shot dead near Marbella.

Crime godfather Christy Kinahan Snr and his two sons, Daniel and Christopher, were arrested in 2010 on the Costa del Sol ahead of the brutal feud with the Hutch family, which claimed 18 lives in Ireland and Spain.

A court in Estepona near Marbella spent more than a decade investigating them for alleged crimes of drugs and weapons trafficking, money laundering and gang membership before it was announced only the so-called ‘Dapper Don’ would face trial for minor offences.

Incredibly, his trial date has yet to be decided, and the Kinahans have relocated to Dubai.

Hutch has been openly travelling between Ireland and Spain using his own passport since he was acquitted in April 2023 of the murder of David Byrne at a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in 2016.

The shooting was a significant event in the ongoing Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud.

He was extradited to Ireland from Spain to face trial after being held on a European Arrest Warrant at an Italian restaurant in Fuengirola in August 2021.

Gerry Hutch made a first attempt to take a seat in the Dáil in November 2024.

He was beaten in the General Election that year by Labour’s Marie Sherlock in the race for the four-seater Dublin Central constituency after she received a few thousand transfers from both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail in the last two counts to keep him out.

He has been named in court as the head of the infamous Hutch gang, though he has denied this.