A senior figure in one of Ireland’s most dangerous criminal networks has been arrested in the Canary Islands following a coordinated international police operation involving Spanish and Irish authorities.
Officers from Spain’s National Police, working alongside Ireland’s Garda Síochána, detained the suspect on Wednesday in the town of Tías on the island of Lanzarote.
The arrest came less than 24 hours after Ireland issued a European Arrest Warrant (EAW), following a period of surveillance coordinated through ENFAST, the European network that tracks high-profile fugitives. Irish officers also travelled to the island to assist in the operation.
According to Spanish police, the man is ‘considered the leader of the organisation’s intelligence cell, as well as running its money transfers’ together with his father. Authorities believe he held a senior role within the so-called Hutch criminal organisation, a group long identified by Irish investigators as a major player in organised crime.
Irish media reports suggest the suspect is a close associate of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, the alleged head of the gang. Hutch was previously arrested in Spain in 2021 in connection with a 2016 murder in Dublin, though he was later cleared. He was subsequently detained again in Lanzarote in 2024 as part of a separate investigation into alleged money laundering.
The Hutch organisation, rooted in Dublin, is described by Spanish police as being built around ‘strong intergenerational family ties and close relationships over several decades’. Since 2016, it has been embroiled in a violent feud with the rival Kinahan gang, a conflict that has claimed at least 18 lives and drawn widespread attention in Ireland.
The latest arrest is not the first major police action against the group in the Canary Islands. In October 2024, Hutch himself was among several individuals detained in Lanzarote in connection with offences including drug trafficking, human trafficking and money laundering.
Authorities say the investigation remains ongoing as they continue efforts to dismantle the wider criminal network.
Spain’s Canary Islands, along with parts of its Mediterranean coast, have long attracted foreign fugitives — particularly from Ireland and the UK — drawn by a combination of high living standards and their strategic position along international drug trafficking routes.
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🚩Detenido uno de los líderes de la organización criminal #irlandesa “Hutch”
— Policía Nacional (@policia) April 9, 2026
🔹El arrestado ha sido localizado en un municipio de la isla de #Lanzarote
🚔Estaba considerado como el líder de la célula de inteligencia de la organización y dirigía sus movimientos monetarios
👮… pic.twitter.com/JwOaLUZdk9
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