Kinahan cartel linked to alleged Cyprus plot against British twins

Famagusta, Cyprus. The Irish Kinahan cartel is alleged to have plotted to murder British twin brothers who were staying in the Famagusta area, according to an international investigation.

Famagusta, Cyprus. Eight people, including an Irish national, two Norwegians and five Swedes, have been arrested in Cyprus in connection with the case. The two alleged targets have since left the island.

Investigation findings

The investigation was conducted by the Irish Times, the Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network, Norway’s VG and Swedish public broadcaster SVT.

Irish security sources believe individuals with close ties to the Kinahan organisation were behind the alleged order. The investigation found that smaller criminal networks in Ireland and Sweden may have been recruited to carry out the operation.

Alleged recruitment

The alleged operation began on August 10 through the Signal messaging application, when a user identifying himself as “Sponge Jobb” offered a gun, knife and motorcycle to someone willing to carry out a murder somewhere in the European Union.

The profile had posted in a Signal group seeking hitmen to carry out a murder in the EU in exchange for 650,000 Danish kroner, or about €87,000.

The alleged organiser reportedly told an undercover officer there was “a job in Cyprus” involving the execution of two twins who were on holiday on the island.

He allegedly said that a person already in Cyprus would provide a pistol, motorcycle and accommodation. He also allegedly claimed that Cypriot authorities would be bribed to stay away from the area where the murder was to take place.

Court evidence

The fee was approximately €85,000, according to evidence presented before Famagusta district court.

Danish police had already been monitoring the Signal group as part of an investigation into networks offering what authorities describe as “violence as a service”.