Hutch is the alleged leader of the Hutch Gang, who are reportedly in a vicious gang war with the Kinahan Cartel.
Last week Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch was arrested in Spain’s Costa del Sol after a Europe-wide Interpol warrant called for his capture in relation to the 2016 Regency Hotel Shooting (per Irish Times). That attack targeted a boxing weigh-in show in Dublin that resulted in the death of David Byrne, an alleged top lieutenant in the Kinahan Organized Crime Group. It is believed that the target of the attack was Daniel Kinahan, the alleged leader of the KOCG and the founder of the boxing promoter that is now known as MTK Global.
Reports state that Hutch was arrested in a joint operation by Irish and Spanish police, who had been conducted surveillance on the 58-year-old for months. It is believed that Hutch left Ireland for Spain shortly after the Regency Hotel Shooting and that, in recent months, had travelled to Eastern Europe to hide from his pursuers.
A number of other individuals are currently standing trial for the Regency Hotel Shooting. Among them is former Dublin city councillor Jonathan Dowdall, who authorities claim is one of the five armed men who stormed the hotel and began firing into the crowd.
The Regency Hotel Attack is the most notable incident in the Hutch-Kinahan gang war, which erupted in 2015 and has since claimed at least 18 lives.
That feud began when Gary Hutch, Gerry Hutch’s nephew, was executed in southern Spain by suspected Kinahan members. Hutch had been part of the Kinahan organization, but was told to leave the gang and all criminal business after he was suspected of tipping off Irish police with regards to a massive cocaine shipment.
After this killing it is believed that Christy Kinahan, the alleged founder of the cartel and father of Daniel Kinahan, tried to organize a peace summit with Hutch to ensure no more violence would occur. However, when Hutch reportedly rejected that offer it is believed that the Kinahan’s responded with an assassination attempt against Hutch in a pub in Lanzarote.
After avoiding that attempt on his life, authorities believe Hutch ordered the Regency Hotel Shooting in order to kill Daniel Kinahan.
After that attack a number of suspected high level Hutch gang members have been killed. Members of Hutch’s immediate family have also been killed, including his brother Eddie Hutch Sr. and nephews Gareth Hutch and Derek Coakley-Hutch.
After the Regency Hotel Attack Daniel Kinahan fled to the United Arab Emirates. Around this same time the company he founded, Macklin’s Gym Marbella or ‘MGM’, rebranded to become MTK Global.
MTK then grew to be one of the biggest power players in world boxing. Today it has deals with Top Rank, ESPN+ and Everlast and represents dozens of top boxers and mixed martial artists. Among its boxing roster is Tyson Fury, Billy Joe Saunders, Carl Frampton, Michael Conlan, Jamie Conlan and Hughie Fury. The company’s MMA roster includes Darren Till, Alexander Rakic. Mounir Lazzez, Mike Grundy, Talia Santos, Su Mudaerji, Duko Todorovic and Carlston Harris.
After the Regency Hotel Shooting MTK claimed that Kinahan had stepped away from the company. However, top stars including Fury and Till continued to name-drop Kinahan as their trusted advisor.
Last year it was revealed that Kinahan had been negotiating on behalf of Fury for his fights with Deontay Wilder and Joshua Fury.
This news lead to an international backlash that included Ireland’s then head-of-state calling on broadcasters to boycott any Fury vs. Joshua fights. After this Kinahan stepped back—publicly—from boxing, which included leaving his role as a special advisor for the Bahrain-based KHK Sports.
Earlier this year the BBC’s Panorama program released an episode title ‘Boxing and the Mob’ which claimed that Kinahan was still involved with MTK. This lead to one of the producers of that documentary needing to go into hiding for fear of their life. In a rare public statement Kinahan claimed he would never threaten the life of a journalist and also refuted all claims that he leads a billion-dollar crime group.