Thursday 15 September 2022 10:29 AM Spanish cops arrest 'shirtless member of Kinahan clan who helped crime bosses ... trends now
The 'key member' of the Kinahan cartel arrested in the Costa Del Sol on Monday allegedly helped his crime bosses launder a staggering £170million in 18 months.
Johnny Morrissey, a former Rochdale doorman with an Irish passport, was detained after a raid on his home while he was sat topless wearing tropical shorts, footage from the Civil Guard shows.
Officers were also filmed putting wads of confiscated cash through counting machines and searching cars at a separate address which were allegedly used to move money and drugs in hidden compartments.
Detectives say they have smashed the most important international criminal organisation operating in Spain with his arrest, which is said to have laundered £300,000 a day.
Morrissey's wife Nicola is the CEO of a Glasgow-based vodka firm called Nero Drinks which was allegedly used as a front for the gang, although she was released after a court appearance yesterday.
Spanish detectives revealed they believed the cash had not been physically moved out of Spain but spread throughout the world using an ancient money transfer system called Hawala.
Johnny Morrissey is arrested in the Costa del Sol while shirtless after a raid by the Civil Guard
Detectives from six different police forces, including the Spanish Civil Guard, Garda and powerful US DEA law enforcement agency, participated in the operation which snared Johnny Morrissey, pictured centre
His wife Nicola, pictured centre, CEO of a Scotland-based vodka firm linked by police to organised crime, raised her middle finger as she was walked out by armed Spanish cops behind him. The pair appeared in court yesterday after spending two nights in police custody
The informal method of moving money, originating from an Arabic term for transfer or trust and involving a network of brokers, is known to have been adopted by criminal gangs who use code numbers or tokens like banknotes torn in half to prove cash is due.
The system is widely used in the Middle East, moving payments through a trusted network of agents who operate outside banks that leaves no paper trail.
Two of his associates were also arrested in Spain, including wife Nicola, and one in the United Kingdom.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard said: 'The Civil Guard, through an operation dubbed Whitewall, has smashed the most important international criminal organisation that operated in Spain dedicated to money laundering.
'In a little over a year and a half they could have laundered more than £173million through the system known as Hawala.'
It emerged overnight Morrissey, identified by US authorities in April as a key aide of the Kinahan Organised Crime Gang, had been held on suspicion of money laundering at his Costa del Sol home.
Last year, Spanish police seized 200kg of cocaine and 500,000 Euros stashed in cars with 'sophisticated concealment systems'
One of the alleged members of the criminal organisation smashed by police ran a second-hand car dealership
