A TECH businessman is being probed by cops over his sourcing and selling of Ghost encrypted phones to drugs mob The Family – members of which were busted in raids earlier this week.
And a top logistics man for Ireland’s No 1 crime gang is suspected of overseeing their imported drugs in Ireland when they first landed here ahead of distribution.
The tech businessman, aged in his 40s and from Kildare, is being questioned by gardai who believe he had not only supplied the phones to The Family, who he assisted in using the platform, but also to other gangs in Ireland.
We have learned he is connected to up to four legitimate companies.
It is believed the encrypted phones favoured by criminals worldwide were used to organise massive cocaine shipments by The Family.
We today reveal the details of the roles of the transnational gangs’ most senior facilitators as they are quizzed in garda custody.
Six members are in garda custody following raids on Monday while six more are being quizzed by Spanish cops after being lifted over there.
They are being quizzed over nine cocaine trafficking and money laundering operations, involving over €22million, last year.
The major operation came after the hack and takedown of the Ghost network – which was specifically used by transnational criminals worldwide – last year.
Of those in custody in Ireland, it includes the feared leader and director along with two siblings who sit directly under him in the hierarchy.
But also being held are two men who provided crucial assistance to the gang’s operations.
The logistics man, in his 60s and from Wexford, was the alleged leader of The Family’s logistical cell who oversaw the transport and storage of drugs when they first landed in the country here from Europe.
We have also learned he is suspected of helping move their cash profits abroad.
Detectives believe he sourced drivers of the articulated lorries – with concealed custom-made secret compartments – to transport the cocaine and money.
The Irish Sun can also reveal that gardai seized a Ghost phone from each of the two men in raids following the hack and takedown of the network last year.
A source said: “These men were vital cogs in the wheel for The Family.
“The word facilitator is being used a lot, but in real terms, the business of the gang would not have been possible without the help of these two men in their respective roles.
“They were not at the top of the gang, but they were certainly relied on heavily by the senior members.”
GLOBAL OPERATION
A third facilitator arrested on Monday evening was known as a “storeman”, keeping drugs in a location before they were moved onto groups lower down the chain to sell.
This week’s major operation against The Family gang comes off the back of over a year’s work from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau with international law enforcement agencies.
Following the global operation against the ‘Ghost’ platform last September, Gardai recovered €15.2m worth of cocaine, €320,000 worth of cannabis, €100,000 of heroin and €300,000 in cash.
The Guardia Civil revealed how they busted The Family’s European HQ, a warehouse in the eastern city of Castellon where they previously seized 100kg of cocaine.
The Family’s modus operandi was relatively simple, in contrast with the sophistication of their communications.
The installed custom-made secret compartments concealed in articulated lorries with cloned number plates.
These vehicles were half loaded from the Castellon warehouse with drugs before they were driven an hour away to Valencia, where other legal goods were put on before it would make its journey to France, from where it was shipped to Ireland.
On one occasion last year, 220kg of marijuana which was hidden in a lorry in Valencia and destined for Ireland was seized.
Overall in Spain, items to the value of over €1million in cash have been seized.
This included 12 luxury cars – some of them equipped with secret compartments – four international transport trucks, €35,000 euros in cash, a pistol with ammo, four computers and 35 mobile phones, as well as various documents related to their illicit business.
