Gardai on alert as Freddie celebrates 30th birthday

Irish Herald



By Cormac Byrne

Thursday December 16 2010

GARDAI were on high alert today as gangster ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson celebrated his 30th birthday.

Officers put a sophisticated security operation in place to thwart plans by rivals to take the mobster out on his birthday.

Thompson – whose gang have been behind the bloody Drimnagh/Crumlin feud – was due in Dublin from Spain later today to spend his birthday with his mum, whose birthday falls tomorrow.

Thompson kicked off week-long celebrations by attending the European title fight between Matthew Macklin and Ruben Varon in Liverpool last weekend.

He was joined at the fight by Gary Hutch, a nephew of exgangster Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch. Gardai in the Dublin south central division have devised a plan to avoid trouble tonight.

Thompson partied earlier this week with bailed gangster Christy Kinahan in Spain.

European arrest warrants exist for both men, who are wanted by Spanish police investigating the ‘Irish mafia’ on the Costa del Sol, headed by Christy Kinahan.

Thompson may also seek to oversee the activities of his street dealers here. One of these individuals is believed to have been broadcaster Gerry Ryan’s cocaine dealer.

The notorious gangster has recently been hiding out on the continent, along with Hutch.

There are fears in south Dublin that Thompson’s arrival could spark violence, as he continues to intimidate small-time dealers into paying their drug debts.

A Dublin source said: “There is an expectation in the south inner city that Freddie will be back for a bash over the coming days. Hi mother’s birthday is this week too and he could show up at that party.”

Thompson is reportedly under pressure from Russian drug trafficking gangs over debts after gardai scored major seizures in the summer costing his gang almost €12 million worth of cocaine.

The criminal, from the Coombe, has spent the last few months jumping between Holland, Britain and Spain to avoid police.

Thompson has risen to prominence in the last decade for his part in the Crumlin- Drimnagh crime feud which has claimed the lives of 16 men.

A European Arrest Warrant was issued for him and his associate Gary Hutch in relation to their knowledge of Kinahan's billion euro drugs empire and the murder of hitman Paddy Doyle in Esteponsa Spain, in 2008.

He can be arrested on sight by any police service including the gardai but has evaded capture until now.

It is believed that if Thompson appears next week the gardai could use the opportunity to pounce.

Extortion

During his last visit to Dublin he was seen socialising with his girlfriend and also oversaw the tooling up of his gang to ward off any extortion bids from the Real IRA.

Thompson is understood to have organised a shipment of weapons into the city in case members of his gang were targeted by the north Dublin Real IRA cell that is extorting money from drug dealers.

According to sources Thompson believes the gang will be subject to a tax on drug profits from the Real IRA gang.

The weapons haul was discovered by gardai in the capital.

- Cormac Byrne