Jack Kavanagh, the offspring of Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh, the head of the Kinahan cartel in the UK, has been brought back from Spain to respond to legal accusations associated with his father’s deeds. The conveyance of Kavanagh Jnr (24) took nearly a year and a half after his detention in Spain, prompted by British law enforcement.
Previously, his father and uncle – the erstwhile leader of the Kinahan cartel in Ireland, Liam Byrne (43) – admitted to the firearms accusations and waited for their sentencing due later that month.
Along with several others, these three individuals are answerable for the same firearm conspiracy, a case/issue diligently scrutinised by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
Being raised in the UK, Kavanagh Jnr assumed the role of the trusted Kinahan’s chieftain after his father absconded from a 1990s criminal asset investigation. Kavanagh Jnr (24), residing in Tamworth is accused of being associated with the procurement and distribution of firearms. The NCA linked these charges with the enigmatic messaging system, EncroChat, after discovering incriminating correspondences.
The discovered messages supposedly tie the men to a UK-based gang involved in obtaining and selling firearms and ammunition to other criminal factions. A batch of 11 firearms connected to the supposed gun smuggling were recouped in the wake of tips passed by Thomas Kavanagh in an attempt to lessen his drug-related sentence.
Kavanagh Jnr was apprehended in the latter part of May 2023, journeying through Malaga en route from Dubai to Turkey. He resisted his extradition to the UK strenuously, however, it eventually transpired last week, with the NCA affirming his presence in the UK only by Wednesday.
His formal allegations encompass planning to own a firearm without proper documentation, possession of unlawful ammunition, wrongful weapon possession, an intent to deviate the course of justice, among others.