The head of the Kinahan organised crime group in the UK has been ordered to pay more than £1.1 million to authorities in the UK which was deemed to be the proceeds of crime or face an additional 12 years in prison.
Thomas Kavanagh, aged 57, was jailed for 21 years in March 2022 for presiding over the importation of over £30 million worth of cocaine and cannabis in a year.
Kavanagh, who is originally from Dublin, also admitted being involved in the illegal trafficking of firearms and money laundering.
The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) subsequently began an investigation into the Kinahan crime group’s finances and assets.
The investigation estimated Kavanagh’s criminal profits to be in the region of £12.2 million with recoverable assets amounting to over £1.1 million.
The assets included a 50% share in what the NCA described as Kavanagh’s "fortified family mansion" in Tamworth in England.
Money from the sale of other properties in the UK and Spain along with £150,000 worth of "high-end bags, clothes and accessories", which were seized during a search of Kavanagh’s house, were also deemed to be part of his assets.
Kavanagh has been told he has three months to pay the sum of £1.1 million or face another 12 years in prison.
Another senior figure in the Kinahan organised crime group, Gary Vickery, was also subject to a proceeds of crime investigation.
He has been ordered to pay over £109,000 within three months or face another two years in prison.
Vickery, aged 43, was arrested in October 2017 following the seizures of 15kg of cocaine and more than 220kg of cannabis which was found inside a six-tonne industrial tarmac removal machine in Dover.
Vickery, originally from Dublin, is currently serving a 20-year sentence.
Head of Operations HQ at the NCA Kay Mellor said Thomas Kavanagh and his gang "believed they were untouchable, but that proved to be their downfall".
"Kavanagh and Vickery will be behind bars for many years to come and now have to pay back more than £1 million to the state," she said.
UK Chief Crown Prosecutor Adrian Foster said Kavanagh and Vickery are "dangerous criminals in the organised gang world, importing millions of pounds worth of dangerous drugs on an industrial scale to the UK".
"This successful £1 million Confiscation Order demonstrates the prosecution team’s commitment to work across borders to strip organised criminals of their illegal gains.
"We continue to pursue the proceeds of crime robustly and will return them back to court to serve an additional sentence of imprisonment if they fail to pay their orders," Mr Foster said.
