Latest news with #CrimeWorld
Sunday World
10-07-2025
- Sunday World
Europe repeatedly warned about Fentanyl dangers in bid to learn from US mistakes
It comes as the Sinaloa cartel have made a deadly alliance which threatens to flood the EU with the drug European law enforcement are being repeatedly warned about the dangers of Fentanyl by US federal agents. The number of deaths related to the synthetic drug, which is at least 80 times as potent as morphine, has been slowly rising, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Fentanyl was responsible for almost 45,000 deaths in the United States alone during 2024. There are no similar statistics available for Europe, with the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) stating that except for 'some Baltic countries, these drugs do not currently figure prominently in the routine data available at EU level.' Despite low use of the drug in Europe so far, New York Times journalist Alan Feuer said that America wants Europe to learn from their mistakes. 'When I talk to US federal agents who are posted in Europe, they often say one of the biggest things they try to tell their European counterparts is just how dangerous fentanyl is economically,' he told Crime World podcast host Nicola Tallant. 'Because the economic model, lower costs, higher profits, is just so enticing, and of course the, the just physical danger that it presents. 'They have been raising alarms in Europe for some time trying to use the American experience with fentanyl as a cautionary tale.' The European Council have said that while fentanyl is relatively niche, it is becoming increasingly available on the EU opioid market, with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (GIATOC) adding that its arrival on the market has been 'gradual but mostly silent.' Feuer, who is a guest on Episode 1088: Deadly alliance in Sinaloa Cartel threatens flood of fentanyl to Europe, said that cartels such as the Sinaloa are copying a previous model which saw cocaine flood the global drug market. Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman after being captured on February 22, 2014, in Mexico City, Mexico. Photo: Getty 'The previous model of how cocaine and how the cocaine traffic spread, it just makes sense. 'If the source of the cocaine was Colombia and to some degree, Bolivia, then there were intermediary companies that were transhipment countries. 'It gets to Mexico, it crosses the border into the United States, it is distributed and sold in the United States at great profit,' he continued. 'Why would they not replicate the same structure of the international distribution with a product that is easier to make and can be sold at much higher profit?' It comes as a civil war between two factions of the gang have led the 'El Chapitos' to create an alliance with sworn enemies in the Jalisco Cartel. It's a move Feuer says is risky, and could completely shake the underworld. 'One of the main factions of the Sinaloa cartel run by the sons of El Chapo, they call themselves El Chapitos, 'The Little Chapos',' he explains. 'They have struck up a remarkable alliance with one of their former sworn enemies, uh, in a rival cartel called the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. 'It's run by a guy named El Mencho and these two groups have for years been engaged in, often bloody and murderous, competition over turf and profits in Mexico. 'The Chapitos have found themselves in a quite vulnerable position vis-a-vis not only other cartels but with warring factions within the Sinaloa cartel itself. 'So they decided to essentially get into bed with their former enemies,' he continued. 'And as one smart analyst put it: 'It would've been like during the height of the Cold War if the East Coast had seceded from the United States and struck up a strategic alliance with the Soviets.' 'That's how counterintuitive this very risky move by The Chapitos was so the Sinaloa cartel has essentially divided.' You can listen to Alan's full interview, 'Episode 1088: Deadly alliance in Sinaloa Cartel threatens flood of fentanyl to Europe', available now wherever you get your podcasts.
Scottish Sun
04-07-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
How sports star faked cancer fight by sticking IPHONE WIRE up his nose to con well-wishers into handing over donations
The fraudster claimed he needed money for treatment SHAMELESS How sports star faked cancer fight by sticking IPHONE WIRE up his nose to con well-wishers into handing over donations A SPORTS star scammed thousands after posting a picture of an iPhone wire up his nose to fake receiving cancer treatment. DJ Carey - dubbed the 'Maradona of hurling' - shamelessly conned well-wishers into giving him money by pretending to have the cruel disease. Advertisement 4 He posted a picture on social media with a phone charger up his nose Credit: SOCIAL MEDIA COLLECT 4 The 'Maradona of hurling' has pleaded guilty to inducing people to pay him money after fraudulently claiming to have cancer Credit: PA The 54-year-old pleaded guilty to 10 counts at the Circuit Court in Dublin's Criminal Courts of Justice on Wednesday. There were 28 witnesses lined up and ready to give evidence for the prosecution had the case gone to trial. The charges related to 13 different complainants, including one of Ireland's wealthiest businessmen - Denis O'Brien. The 54-year-old was charged with inducing O'Brien to send money between January 2014 and late 2022. Advertisement Carey's defence lawyer told the court the sports star "does have very genuine health conditions", despite not having cancer. He also mentioned how Carey previously underwent heart surgery for his condition and is frequently assessed. The sportsman was remanded on bail and is due to be sentenced on October 29. Carey, once hailed as one of the best in GAA history, has bagged five All-Ireland titles and nine All-Star awards. Advertisement He has a total of 34 goals and 195 points from 57 championship games which makes him one of top scorers. On a recent episode of the Crime World podcast, he was described as the "Maradona of hurling". Philadelphia Eagles' Bryan Braman Battles Rare Cancer: Teammates Rally for Support He retired from the game in 2006, but continued to be recognised as an "idol" for young upcoming players. Since his appearance in court this week, shocking photographs of the former Hurling champ have circulated social media. Advertisement One showed him pretending to lie in a hospital bed with an iPhone wire taped up his nose. It is understood the picture was sent to people he conned between 2014 and 2022, when Carey claimed to need money for cancer treatment. In May 2011, the former sports star was made subject to a debt repayment court order for an eye-watering £7.3million. He managed settle his debt in 2018 with an agreement that meant he only had to pay back less than one per cent of the original total. Advertisement In 2015, speaking on RTE's Ray D'Arcy radio show, Carey said: "I am not one of those who would say 'I don't care' about repaying debt. "You borrow money, it should be paid whatever extent that can be, I would still be conscious it has to be done". Carey first appeared in court in late 2023 charged with 21 counts under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act. This comes as a mum-of-two faked having terminal cancer to con her distraught partner into giving her thousands of pounds for non-existent treatment. Advertisement Laura McPherson fabricated stories and sent fake photos at multiple hospitals and specialist visits as she swindled nearly £25,000 from Jon Leonard. But instead of undergoing chemotherapy, she was actually splashing out on breast enhancement procedures and trips abroad, including a stay at an Austrian holistic and weight loss centre. McPherson not only lied to Mr Leonard but also to her friends and even her own family including her distraught 12-year-old daughter, who is now 16. McPherson, from Derby, had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to fraud between March 1, 2017, and January 31, 2022. Advertisement A judge ordered McPherson to be electronically tagged as he imposed a curfew on her to stay at her home from 7pm to 6am every Wednesday to Sunday. He imposed a community order for two years and ordered McPherson to complete 30 days with a probation officer. He said if she breached her terms she would receive an immediate two-and-a-half year prison sentence. Elsewhere, another woman shamelessly used dating apps to find men she could con by faking cancer. Advertisement Mum-of-one Rebecca Gray made innocent victim Sean Fry send her £10,000. Now he has revealed to Channel 4 how he missed the warning signs in their new series, Love Cheats. How to protect yourself from fraud USE the following tips to protect yourself from fraudsters. Keep your social media accounts private – Think twice before you your share details – in particular your full date of birth, address and contacts details – all of this information can be useful to fraudsters. – Think twice before you your share details – in particular your full date of birth, address and contacts details – all of this information can be useful to fraudsters. Deactivate and delete old social media profiles – Keep track of your digital footprint. If a profile was created 10 years ago, there may be personal information currently available for a fraudster to use that you're are not aware of or you have forgotten about. – Keep track of your digital footprint. If a profile was created 10 years ago, there may be personal information currently available for a fraudster to use that you're are not aware of or you have forgotten about. Password protect your devices – Keep passwords complex by picking three random words, such as roverducklemon and add or split them with symbols, numbers and capitals. – Keep passwords complex by picking three random words, such as roverducklemon and add or split them with symbols, numbers and capitals. Install anti-virus software on your laptop and personal devices and keep it up to date – This will make it harder for fraudsters to access your data in the first place. – This will make it harder for fraudsters to access your data in the first place. Take care on public Wi-Fi – Fraudsters can hack or mimic them. If you're using one, avoid accessing sensitive apps, such as mobile banking. – Fraudsters can hack or mimic them. If you're using one, avoid accessing sensitive apps, such as mobile banking. Think about your offline information too – Always redirect your post when you move home and make sure your letter or mailbox is secure. 4 Carey's defence lawyer told the court the sports star "does have very genuine health conditions" Credit: PA 4 The sportsman was remanded on bail and is due to be sentenced on October 29 Credit: PA
Sunday World
22-06-2025
- Sunday World
New book lifts lid on one of Ireland's biggest heists – and how the robbers got away
Despite the scale of the robbery in December 2004, no one has ever been convicted for the robbery itself. The bank worker charged in connection with the robbery. Two decades on from the night £26.5m disappeared from the Northern Bank's vault in Belfast, author Glenn Patterson has written the definitive account of a crime that stunned the country – and yet, somehow didn't. 'It's just the kind of thing that happens in Northern Ireland,' he says in a discussion with CrimeWorld host Nicola Tallant. It is that almost eerie sense of familiarity, of a city conditioned to violence, that lingers most in Patterson's recently published book, The Northern Bank Job. At its heart is a chilling moment. Karyn McMullan, the wife of bank manager Kevin McMullan, blindfolded, stripped and dumped in a forest after being held hostage for hours, hears an explosion. 'Well that would be the car being blown up,' she thought, 'because that's just what they do in this country.' A final note in an intricately orchestrated heist that still has no convictions, revealing the uneasy normality of organised crime in post-Troubles Northern Ireland. Author Glenn Patterson. The robbery unfolded on December 20, 2004, in what remains one of the biggest cash heists in Irish history. Patterson's gripping book details the scale and precision of the operation, exposing an inside job pulled off with remarkable audacity, composure and a whole network of accomplices. It began, as so many of Belfast's darkest stories do, with a knock on the door. That door belonged to Chris Ward, a young single man from Poleglass who worked at the bank's cash centre, and had opted out of his usual Sunday night bar shift that evening, something he only did occasionally. Two men arrived claiming to want to talk about the Celtic but seconds later, more masked men followed. Within moments, Ward and his family became hostages. Meanwhile, miles away, in rural Loughinisland, Kevin McMullan answered a similar knock from men disguised as police. Cops at the scene. 'They said there'd been an accident involving a member of his family and they needed him to identify a body,' Patterson recounts. 'Then came the guns. A gun to Kevin's head. A gun to his wife Karyn's head.' What followed was a masterclass in psychological manipulation and coordination. While Karyn was blindfolded, threatened and transported to a secret location, McMullan and Ward were held overnight and drilled in the following day's script. 'They were told to behave as normal if they wanted their families to remain safe,' Patterson explains. 'Dismiss the other staff, say there was a recount and begin moving the resealed cash, to look like waste paper, out the front door.' And they did... twice. That is perhaps the most staggering detail of all. The robbers came back for a second run, accumulating £26.5m. All carried out with unnerving composure just a few days before Christmas. Ward even left the bank during the day to buy sandwiches and a Christmas present. 'I was told to act normal,' he later said. 'So I acted normal.' In the operation filled with peculiar details, there was, however, one near miss. A member of the public spotted men in striking ginger wigs beside a white van parked near the bank and so alerted a parking warden. 'The warden passed it on to police,' Patterson says, 'but by the time they arrived, the van was gone.' Despite the scale of the crime, no one has ever been convicted for the robbery itself. The only man jailed in connection to it was Cork-based financier Ted Cunningham, who laundered approximately £2.3m of the proceeds. He has continued to deny any involvement in the crime. Chris Ward leaving the bank with the cash. News in 90 Seconds - June 22nd Much of the cash was the Northern Bank's own printed notes, made worthless when the bank recalled the entire run. 'They made it the greatest theft of waste paper in history!' Patterson says. Almost immediately, suspicion fell on the Provisional IRA. Because of the robbery's sophistication, manpower and timing, it all pointed towards an organisation with serious infrastructure and resources. The bank worker charged in connection with the robbery. 'For this to happen just then, in December of 2004,' Patterson says, referring to the ongoing peace talks and post-Good Friday political negotiations, 'was deeply problematic.' The IRA denied any involvement and Sinn Féin claimed ignorance, but public scepticism remains to this day. Ward, initially seen as a victim, then became the focus of a criminal investigation. 'He had prepared the rota,' explains Patterson. 'He was on shift with McMullan, so the prosecution built its case on the grounds that he manipulated the schedule in his favour.' But when the case was brought to court in 2008, the evidence fell apart. CCTV footage showed McMullan had seen the rota days in advance and had been filmed discussing it with Ward. 'The whole case just crumbled,' says Patterson. 'There wasn't a single piece of direct evidence against him. Nobody asked where the money had gone, he never profited. It just made no sense.' The trial was held in a Diplock court, without a jury, because the charge was deemed to be terror-related. Yet the prosecution refused to speculate on whether the IRA was indeed involved, leaving the process hanging in complete contradiction. A contradiction that did not go unnoticed. As Patterson points out, there was often a reluctance to confront certain truths too directly, 'more often, it was a case of a blind eye being turned to IRA activities in the early 2000s... everything was in service to the peace process, and you might say, with good reason'. For Patterson, the answer may then be quite straightforward. 'They did it because they could,' he says, echoing journalist Suzanne Breen. 'The level of co-ordination, insider knowledge, and forensic awareness involved, pointed to an organisation with serious resources and deep roots in the city, all traits long associated with the Provisional IRA. They had the means, the local knowledge and the infrastructure. And maybe they thought they could get away with it... and they did.' For all its scale and complexity, The Northern Bank Job is a story anchored in place. 'This kind of thing happens here,' Patterson repeats. 'And people just learn to live with it.'
Irish Independent
18-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Money Talks podcast: Lorraine Keane on buying a house in Foxrock at 20: ‘I doubled what I'd paid for it'
Hosted by Indo Money editor Katie Byrne, Money Talks asks household names to lift the lid on their personal finances and share their money story. Each week, Ms Byrne will chat to a mix of entertainers, artists and entrepreneurs about how they spend, save and invest their money. In the first episode, available to listen to now, broadcaster Lorraine Keane shares how she got into the property market at the age of 20 and why she worries her daughters won't have the same opportunities. Money Talks: Lorraine Keane on buying a house in Foxrock at 20: 'I doubled what I'd paid for it' Upcoming guests include comedian Colm O'Regan, jewellery entrepreneur Chupi Sweetman, podcaster Jenny Claffey and fitness influencer Rob Lipsett. Money Talks is the latest addition to the growing portfolio of award-winning shows from the Irish Independent. These include The Indo Daily, Indo Sport with Joe Molloy, Real Health with Karl Henry and The Big Tech Show with Adrian Weckler. Mediahuis Ireland – the publisher of the Irish Independent – is also the home of the phenomenally successful Crime World, hosted by Nicola Tallant. Mediahuis Ireland editor-in-chief Cormac Bourke said: 'We want to continue to improve our service to our readers. Launching the Indo Money hub was designed to do just that. Building on its success, the Money Talks podcast is another important step to give our audience the journalism it wants in the right format and at the right time.' Group head of audio Mary Carroll said: 'Money Talks is a non-conventional personal finance podcast that is less about dispensing advice and more about people's personal experiences with money and how it has shaped who they are. It's a fresh approach and an exciting addition to our podcast portfolio.' Indo Money editor and Money Talks host Katie Byrne said: 'We want to break the taboo around talking about money by asking the questions people are often too afraid to ask. Our guests share openly about their financial experiences, in turn revealing another side to their personality.' Subscribe to Money Talks on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Sunday World
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Rex Ryan says he's no longer in contact with Gerry ‘The Monk' Hutch ahead of play debut
His brand new play about the veteran criminal is set to debut next month Rex Ryan has said that he is no longer in contact with Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch ahead of his new play debuting next month. Appearing on Oliver Callan's RTE Radio One show this morning, the actor and writer said: 'I'm not chatting to him now, and I think it's probably important that I have a removal from everybody now. 'I'm in rehearsals. I'm trying to make the show, so I need to just put my head down and focus on creating a piece of theatre,' he explained. Rex Ryan (Pic Frank McGrath) and Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch (Pic Mark Condren) News in 90 Seconds - May 30th Ryan said that a comment made by Hutch during his interview on Crime World inspired part of the play, which is set five minutes before Hutch was due to receive the verdict in the 2022 Regency murder trial. 'He's sitting in the cell and he essentially goes into his mind in a prayer,' he said, explaining the plot. 'He's often referenced the fact – [and] he was asked this on the Nicola Tallant podcast– did he feel that there were angels watching over him because he survived so many [attempts on his life]? 'He survived at least two explicit attempts on his life, and he said he felt that like there was guardian angels watching over him. 'That stuck with me,' Ryan continued. 'So I took the premise of that. Some sort of angel visits him as the clock ticks, four minutes, three minutes, two minutes to go to the trial, and the angel takes him to task for key moments in his life before he goes out to the judges.' Rex, who is the son of the late Gerry Ryan, lived near Hutch in Clontarf growing up. He said they first met to discuss the play before The Monk ran as an independent candidate in the 2024 General Election. 'He's a complicated man for sure,' Ryan said when asked if there was 'more depth to him in person?' Monk poster 'I suppose anyone who's gone through what he's gone through so publicly, that has to have had some effect on how willing you are to open yourself up to anybody. 'So I imagine that he is as much of a mystery to me still,' he said. 'Being in the public eye for so long, being on trial publicly, living in that world, I can only imagine that these are, in terms of your psyche, these are really taxing things and it would be hard not to be adversely affected by that. Asked if he was 'sympathetic towards him', Rex said he would be 'sympathetic towards many people who have gone through hurt.' 'What I can't do is make a judgment when I'm trying to make the play. 'But I suppose if someone's family were murdered and you were in that world, it's certainly something that I wouldn't wish for myself or my family, and that's something that would, that would terrify me. 'He still has a threat on his life.' 'He didn't seem fearful when I met him, but once again, I think he would, he would have to be aware for the rest of his life.' 'I suppose when I'm meeting, I'm trying not to think like that because if I lean too far one way or the other, I am going to get into territory that I don't want to.' During the 52 days of evidence, the court heard testimony from various witnesses, including former Sinn Fein councillor Jonathan Dowdall, who claimed Hutch told him that he and another man had shot Kinahan cartel foot soldier David Byrne at the Regency hotel in 2016. Dowdall was due to stand trial for murder alongside Hutch, but turned state witness and pleaded guilty to a facilitation charge. The three-judge court found his evidence unreliable and acquitted The Monk. While he walked free from the three-judge court, his co-accused, Paul Murphy (61), of Cherry Avenue, Swords, Co Dublin and Jason Bonney (50), of Dromnigh Wood, Portmarnock, Dublin 13, were found guilty of facilitating the murder. The Monk will be performed at the Glass Mask Theatre on Dawson Street from June 10th to 21st.
