Spanish police say Hutch group leader will contest extradition

A 37-year-old Irish man identified by Spanish authorities as “one of the leaders” of the Hutch Organised Crime Group is set to fight efforts to send him back to Ireland, after appearing before a court in Lanzarote.

Spanish police arrested the man yesterday under a European arrest warrant issued by the High Court in Dublin.

Gardaí want him returned to Ireland, where he is sought to face criminal charges.

He appeared by video link before a judge in Lanzarote this morning and was remanded in custody after refusing to consent to extradition voluntarily.

In a statement, the Spanish authorities said the man “is considered one of the leaders of the criminal organisation’s intelligence cell and … managed its money laundering operations”.

Members of the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation were present when officers arrested him in the town of Tías in the Canary Islands.

Spanish police said they “initiated an operation to locate him, which took place yesterday on the island of Lanzarote in conjunction with members of the Irish Garda who were expressly deployed to Spain”.

Footage of the arrest has also been released.

The Hutch Organised Crime Group has been engaged in a long-running feud with the rival Kinahan Organised Crime Group, a conflict that has so far claimed 18 lives.

In a second statement issued this afternoon, the Spanish authorities confirmed that the man had appeared in court by video link.

The courts service said he “appeared via videoconference from Lanzarote before the duty judge, Santiago Pedraz, the head of the Fifth Section of the Central Court of First Instance.”

It added that “the defendant” had declined extradition to Ireland and that the judge ordered his detention “while the European Arrest Warrant is being processed.”