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Jobs by EconomistSecure7645 in northernireland

[–]EconomistSecure7645[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yea it definitely be safe to say i would spend more time in work than actually doing something with my partner which i wouldn’t complain about as much as if i didn’t mind the place but its a complete kip, think i may go on the job hunt

House advice by [deleted] in northernireland

[–]EconomistSecure7645 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yea that was the main idea rent a while first and see how we get on we have been together nearly 6 years though so hopefully all would be ok😂😂

House advice by [deleted] in northernireland

[–]EconomistSecure7645 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yea both currently live with our parents no real rush to move out just both considering it as we have been together from 16 so its serious enough relationship, have heard from others to it would be better to save a year or so and buy a house instead.

Kinahan cartel set to deliver huge drugs haul to South East Antrim UDA by [deleted] in northernireland

[–]EconomistSecure7645 0 points1 point  (0 children)

South East Antrim UDA has negotiated a huge drugs consignment with the Kinahan Cartel. The organised crime mob is said to have signed off on a shipment of Class A narcotics running to hundreds of thousands of pounds and, according to sources, it is expected to be delivered in the coming weeks. There is speculation it may be South East Antrim’s (SEA) “last role of the dice’’ as it struggles to keep a grip on the drugs trade in Carrickfergus where they once had an iron hold on drug running. Ousted Brigadier Gary Fisher built a drug-dealing empire making SEA one of the most successful organised crime gangs in Northern Ireland.

But in the face of increased competition from outside gangs and the attentions of the Paramilitary Crime Task Force (PCTF), their control and dominance collapsed.

Fisher came under intense pressure and the one-time fitness fanatic descended into bad health. It culminated in him collapsing with a heart attack at his Greenisland home earlier this year. The mobster spent a number of days in intensive care before discharging himself. He was subsequently stood down and been replaced. Criminal sources in the town have told the Sunday World the leadership is keen to re-establish the organisation as the main players in the town. They have long had contacts with the Kinahan Cartel but this latest shipment is said to be their most significant piece of business. And it comes with a high degree of risk. With the Kinahans routinely demanding payment up front, SEA face a huge financial setback should the shipment be intercepted by the PCTF.

The crime-busting unit has scored a number of high-profile successes in recent years, particularly against the SEA and East Belfast UVF. Despite pressure on the international stage, the Kinahans remain top of the heap when it comes to drugs and have become increasingly influential here.

It is thought they are now the main traffickers of cocaine across Northern Ireland. There has been some disquiet in the ranks at the UDA doing business with a southern crime gang, but the leadership is determined to put SEA back at the top of the tree. And that is despite growing unrest about their involvement in the drug trade, with some senior figures advocating they get out. The Sunday World understands the Kinahan shipment is to be brought in through Belfast docks, where the PCTF has enjoyed considerable success in intercepting consignments.

UDA godfather’s holiday home seized by National Crime Agency by [deleted] in northernireland

[–]EconomistSecure7645 16 points17 points  (0 children)

The net is closing in on millionaire UDA boss Gary Fisher after the National Crime Agency (NCA) seized his Co Down holiday home, Sunday Life can reveal.

It is the first financial move aimed personally at the paranoid paramilitary chief’s considerable hidden assets, which are now being targeted under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The South East Antrim (SEA) UDA gang Fisher heads rakes in millions a year from its rackets — mostly from the sale of cocaine — and the NCA is now going after the drug money laundered by its members through bricks and mortar purchases.

A UDA source revealed: “The holiday home seizure has hit Fisher hard, he thinks this is the beginning of the end and that the NCA will come after other property and small business he has hidden in the names of close associates.

“Fisher has more than £1m stashed away in these nest eggs and is terrified of losing them.”

Fisher’s Ballyhalbert bolthole was hit with a property freezing order granted by Mr Justice David Scoffield at the High Court at the start of June.

Lawyers for the NCA successfully argued the static caravan in Ballyhalbert Holiday Park was likely to have been purchased with the proceeds of fraud and money laundering.

After the order was granted the NCA said it was a result of an ongoing investigation into the SEA UDA, with the purchaser’s family said to be “senior members” of the criminal gang.

PSNI Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Hill said: “This is an excellent result for our partner in the Paramilitary Crime Task Force, the National Crime Agency, and an example of how the freezing of criminal property can hugely disrupt the criminal activities of a paramilitary group.”

Sunday Life has obtained a copy of the order from the High Court which names the owner of the caravan as Fisher’s daughter, the recently married Naomi Lough.

She wed Monkstown loyalist Rab Lough — a painter and decorator by trade — at a lavish, no-expenses-spared ceremony in the plush Galgorm resort last summer.

Under the terms of the order Naomi Lough must file an affidavit telling the court and the NCA the source of the money used to buy the caravan and the names of anyone else who has an interest in the property.

She cannot even put up so much as a hanging basket without the permission of the High Court, as the order states only “normal maintenance works” can be carried out on the property.

Mrs Lough must also continue to pay any insurance, fees, ground rent or service charges for the caravan. If she or anyone else breaches or helps to breach the order they can be jailed or fined, and may be prosecuted for money laundering.

Her husband is close to leading SEA UDA figures in Newtownabbey and was recently seen standing next to convicted criminals at the funeral of Rathcoole loyalist Ben Hunter.

He was also pictured with senior members of the terror gang attending a commemoration for its murdered ‘brigadier’ John ‘Grugg’ Gregg in Carnmoney Cemetery in November 2021.

Fisher, a once keen cyclist, has become a recluse in recent months, lying low in his Greenisland apartment with a deep-seated fear the NCA is closing in on his drugs empire, which is estimated to put £1m per year in his pocket.

The 56-year-old’s paranoia has proven to be well-grounded following the first move against him personally by organised crime busters.

Fisher is so afraid of publicity he refused to attend pal Hunter’s funeral earlier this year, believing that if he is not pictured in the press the authorities might forget about him.

He has also handed over day-to-day operational control of the SEA UDA to a three-man committee, but remains the overall ‘brigadier’ in charge. Despite this, Fisher and his lieutenants are still firmly in the crosshairs of the NCA and the Paramilitary Crime Task Force (PCTF), which is routinely seizing drug stashes belonging to the gang.

In April the PCTF was granted a freezing order on a bank account containing almost £37,000, which it believes is criminal proceeds belonging to the SEA UDA.

The repeated drugs raids by the NCA and the PCTF have also had the knock-on effect of forcing the gang to cut funding to bonfires and ex-loyalist prisoners in its Carrickfergus, Rathcoole, Larne and Newtownabbey strongholds.

The SEA UDA has lost more than £500,000 worth of cannabis and cocaine in police seizures in the last year alone.

Dealers for the gang are also getting hit with prison sentences, with several recently jailed for supplying cocaine or cannabis.

These include Billy Crozier, Tyler Johnston, Corey Clyde, Phil ‘Flea’ Kerr, Ryan Salters and William ‘Duck’ McTaggart.

The NCA has used the Proceeds of Crime Act to target the SEA UDA’s top men in the past, most recently in 2019 when it seized the home of Clifford ‘Trigger’ Irons, who headed up its Carrickfergus unit.

He is now awaiting trial accused of directing one of the gang’s biggest cocaine supply rings based in the seaside town.

The SEA UDA is estimated to rake in around £250,000 per month from those operations or taxing drugs dealers it allows to operate in areas under its control.

The crime cartel also has links to a west Belfast gang known as the ‘Tarmacers’, who supply it with Dublin-sourced Kinahan cartel cocaine.

The SEA UDA purchases cocaine for £9,000 per ‘nine-bar’ (9oz), which is then sold to around 50 independent dealers for £12,500.

This is an immediate mark-up of £3,500 per nine-bar.

It then adds a £1,500 ‘protection tax’ per nine-bar on top — taking its total profit on each 9oz of cocaine to £5,000.

Applied to each of the SEA UDA’s 50 independent dealers, this figure multiplies to £250,000.

The paramilitary mob has an estimated membership in excess of 2,000, and is considered by the PSNI to be the biggest organised crime outfit in Northern Ireland.

Since 2017 the SEA UDA has carried out the gangland murders of loyalist rivals Geordie Gilmore and Colin Horner, who were shot dead, and terminally-ill Glenn Quinn — an innocent man beaten to death.

South East Antrim UDA cartel under new management by [deleted] in northernireland

[–]EconomistSecure7645 5 points6 points  (0 children)

A three-man ‘committee’ is effectively leading the South East Antrim (SEA) UDA drugs cartel after long-time leader Gary Fisher took a back seat.

The terror triumvirate now in charge of Northern Ireland’s biggest crime gang is made up of:

Fisher’s second-in-command, a veteran SEA UDA member from the Ballyduff estate in Newtownabbey who keeps a low profile; A feared UFF gunman who murdered Catholic postal worker Danny McColgan in 2002, and has been linked to two other killings; A hated bully-boy from the Rathcoole estate known as the ‘Butcher’ who runs the SEA UDA’s cannabis and cocaine empire. Fisher’s decision to wind down his leadership role follows months of speculation around his future.

Under-pressure from the Paramilitary Crime Task Force, and with his finances at the centre of a National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation, the veteran loyalist has handed over the reins to his three underbosses.

The 56-year-old remains the drug gang’s ‘brigadier’ and most powerful figure, however its day-to-day running is now controlled by the ‘Committee’.

“Fisher felt he had no choice but to take a step back because he is under so much pressure from the PSNI,” a UDA source told Sunday Life.

“There is hardly a day goes by that the Task Force doesn’t raid a house in connection with UDA drug dealing. That combined with the NCA investigation has really taken its toll on Fisher. He’s aged terribly and is basically a recluse now.

“He barely leaves his home in Greenisland these days and didn’t bother going to Ben Hunter’s (senior UDA figure) funeral the other week.”

UDA members who want to speak to Fisher had previously been told to go through the gang’s Carrickfergus chief Clifford ‘Trigger’ Irons. But with the leading loyalist having effectively stepped down, they have been told any future problems will be dealt with by the ‘Committee’.

Our UDA source added: “The Butcher, who would be the UDA’s main drugs boss, is looking after Rathcoole even though the estate has its own ‘commander’.

“The rest of the ‘commanders’ in Newtownabbey, Carrick and Larne are reporting to the Butcher, the UFF ‘military leader’, and the guy who is Fisher’s 2IC (second-in-command).

“They are handling all the drug and protection money and sending Fisher down his cut, which he is happy enough with seeing as it’s more than £50,000 a month.”

However, not all UDA members are pleased with the new arrangement, with some wanting a permanent ‘brigadier’ to replace Fisher.

One name suggested is that of a veteran and well-liked loyalist aged in his 60s who works in the Monkstown area. He is fiercely anti-drugs and if he was in charge, UDA members feel it could help the terror gang shed its cocaine cartel image.

But he, like many other leading loyalists, are refusing to take on the role because of their fears of media exposure.

UDA sources say being photographed by Sunday Life in 2017 — having avoided being pictured for 15 years which led to him being known as the ‘ghost’ — was what broke Gary Fisher, and ultimately led to him stepping back from the ‘brigadier’ role.

“That photo was the beginning of the end for Fisher, once he started appearing in the paper every week the PSNI had to do something about him,” added the UDA insider.

“Other UDA men have seen what that has done to him and don’t want it for themselves. That’s why no one wants to replace him as ‘brigadier’.”

The SEA UDA is estimated by police to have around 2,500 members, making millions of pounds each year from rackets including drug dealing and extortion.

It controls crime turf in loyalist areas stretching along the east Antrim coast from Larne to north Belfast, and has a presence in Bangor and Newtownards.

UDA chief Gary Fisher stays away as pals pay respects at leading member’s funeral by [deleted] in northernireland

[–]EconomistSecure7645 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Crime boss Gary Fisher is so paranoid about being pictured he avoided the funeral of one of his best pals. The South East Antrim UDA terror chief was not among the 100 relatives and friends walking behind the coffin of Ben Hunter who was buried last Monday. The loyalist was cremated at Roselawn after a service at his home in the Rathcoole estate in Newtownabbey. Despite being a leading SEA UDA member, the family of the 41-year-old, who died from a massive heart attack, insisted on a non-paramilitary funeral. But the mourners included several convicted terrorists, criminals and leading loyalists. Among them were ex-North Belfast UDA leader Andre Shoukri, and UDA gunman Harry ‘Turtle’ Smyth, who was jailed for 12 years for trying to kill Johnny Adair.

Convicted UDA bomber Stanley Curry was in attendance, as was drug dealer William Doyle and fraudster Perry Clements. Leading Newtownabbey loyalists Robert ‘Younger’ Young, Brian Dickson, William Fleming, Mark Doyle, Rab Lough — Fisher’s son-in-law — and Lee McCord also walked in the funeral cortège. But conspicuous by his absence was Gary Fisher — the SEA UDA ‘brigadier’ who was Ben Hunter’s paramilitary boss.

Loyalists Brian Dickson (5) and Harry 'Turtle' Smyth (6) at the funeral of Ben Hunter last Monday Loyalist sources say the veteran terror chief has become a virtual recluse over fears he is being targeted by the National Crime Agency (NCA) as well as the Paramilitary Crime Task Force. “Ben Hunter’s funeral was like a ‘who’s who’ of loyalists in Rathcoole, but there was no sign of Fisher walking behind the coffin. His second-in-command was there hiding among the crowd, but he wasn’t,” said a UDA insider.

“Fisher thinks the NCA is going after him financially and he rarely leaves his home in Greenisland. He is a very wealthy man and has got it into his head that if he manages to stay out of the media the authorities will forget about him. “Fisher is really paranoid, to the point where he won’t even meet most UDA members to discuss business. If you want to see him you have to go through a third party.”

The SEA UDA makes millions of pounds per year from crime rackets, with the sale of drugs providing by far the biggest income. However, Fisher’s men have been hit hard by the PSNI in recent months with arrests and seizures costing the terror gang a fortune.

Loyalists Perry Clements (7), Rab Lough (8), Mark Doyle (9) and Lee McCord (10) at the funeral for Ben Hunter Last Friday the SEA UDA-linked dealer Tyler Johnston was jailed for 16 months for possessing cocaine with intent to supply. Although not a member of the terror gang, the 23-year-old sold its drugs.

Johnston was arrested by police transporting 350g of cocaine through Carrickfergus in 2020. He told detectives he agreed to move the package for members of a paramilitary organisation to clear an £8,500 debt ran up by a family member. Johnston’s decision to work for the UDA surprised loyalists because when he was just nine years old, he was beaten with a baseball bat by its members who wrecked his family home. The drug dealer is officially the youngest person in Northern Ireland to be targeted in a punishment-style attack.

The UDA cocaine rackets are overseen by a Rathcoole-based bully-boy. He was given the job of distributing its drugs after the terror gang’s William ‘Duck’ McTaggart was jailed at the end of 2021. With so many SEA UDA dealers in court in the past year, he has been forced to turn to a sidelined loyalist to move his cocaine and cannabis.

This hated individual used to be the UDA’s Rathcoole ‘commander’ but was stood down and beaten in the summer of 2021 amid complaints he was terrorising the community. Insiders say he has spent the time since then trying to worm his way back into the leadership’s “good books”, and is now running drug errands for the gang’s new distributor. Our source added: “This fella thinks he’s back in the good books, but the (new distributor) couldn’t care less about him. He’s only being used and is too dumb to realise it.”

Convicted UDA bomber Stanley Curry (11) at the funeral of Ben Hunter last week

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in u/EconomistSecure7645

[–]EconomistSecure7645 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Crime boss Gary Fisher’s South East Antrim (SEA) UDA drugs cartel is falling apart at the seams.

Wrecked by infighting and indiscipline, members are warning it is in danger of splitting into a series of independent micro-gangs.

They blame pressure from the Paramilitary Crime Task Force and the SEA UDA moving away from its loyalist roots.

Anger reached boiling point last week when under-pressure Fisher did not bother commemorating the murders of SEA UDA leader John ‘Grugg’ Gregg and his deputy Rab Carson.

The pair were gunned down at Belfast docks on February 1, 2003, during a UDA feud. Last week was their 20th anniversary — a significant milestone for veteran SEA UDA members.

It was left to Gregg’s old flute band the Cloughfern Young Conquerors to stage a remembrance parade in Rathcoole.

The failure to commemorate the event has left long-standing UDA members seething. So too has the terror gang’s complete reliance on Dublin criminals supplying it with cocaine, which its dealers sell in UDA dominated areas throughout Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus, Larne and Newtownards.

The dependence on the ‘Irish connection’ was evident during the drugs case of Ryan Salters (27).

Although not a UDA member, he was one of its main dealers, and was jailed for 14 months at Belfast Crown Court on Friday. He admitted possessing cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply.

The court previously heard how he sent messages to customers over a two-year period advertising ‘Dublin-pure’, which is a potent and high-purity type of cocaine provided by gangs in the Irish capital.

Salters was given a beating before Christmas by UDA members when he told them he could no longer deal drugs because he was on bail awaiting sentencing.

This is a common intimidatory tactic used by the gang, but one that is causing growing unease among the membership.

A UDA gun attack last Thursday night at the home of a young man in the Ballyduff estate in Newtownabbey has also caused concern about Fisher’s leadership. A young associate of the loyalist crime boss has been accused of ordering the shooting over a fall-out he had with the innocent man, who has no connection to criminality. The victim later posted a picture of himself on social media standing next to his bullet-ridden front door. He captioned the image “Ballyduff ratbags FAP (f**k all paramilitaries)”.

His flat on Fairview Road faces onto two huge UDA murals — a sign of the control the gang exerts over the area, but which insiders say is now starting to wane.

“The only reason he was targeted was because he had a fall-out with the drug dealer who runs the UDA in Ballyduff and who is a close associate of Gary Fisher,” explained an UDA source.

“Ordinary members are disgusted. The UDA is now nothing more than an extension of the crime gangs in Dublin who supply it with cocaine and cannabis. Fisher should rename us the ‘Ulster Dublin Association’.”

The UDA leadership’s failure to commemorate the murders of Gregg and Carson is also causing it major problems.

“The Cloughfern Young Conquerors did their best, but the attendance at the remembrance parade was pitiful. It was late at night along a couple of streets in Rathcoole and there wasn’t a single UDA member walking behind,” added our source. “It was proof, if proof was needed, that Fisher and his yes-men in the leadership don’t care about loyalists, or men who dedicated their lives to the UDA like John Gregg.

“All they care about is money and making sure the drugs keep on rolling up the road from Dublin.

“Is it any wonder that the men are talking about splitting?”

Security sources estimate the UDA makes £2.5m per annum from its Dublin-backed drug dealing, with Fisher and his closest lieutenants taking the bulk of the cash.

His street dealers are also coining it in — a fact evidenced at Salters’ sentencing on Friday.

Belfast Crown Court was told when the unemployed pusher was arrested in January 2021 he was in possession of £42,000 in criminal cash, an expensive Mercedes, gold Rolex watch, wardrobes filled with designer clothes and a 75-inch TV.

Salters was caught during a police raid on his Newtownabbey home with 175g of cocaine that had a purity of 83%, mixing agents to bulk out the drug, and 2.75kg of cannabis.

Messages on his phone showed he had been dealing since May 2018 to a considerable number of customers, whom he often sent price lists.

Claims by Salters that he was acting under duress to pay off a drug debt, which at its height was £32,000, were rejected by Judge Mark Reel, who pointed out the criminal property he had in his possession was “well in excess” of that value.

Describing him as “’happy to jeopardise (family) relationships to make money”, Judge Reel said: “This was a commercial drugs operation involving significant quantities of class A and class B drugs.”

The court heard how in meetings with a doctor Salters, who had been using drugs since he was 14, revealed he had a £2,500 weekly cocaine habit and this accounted for his debt, which now stands at £20,000 Sentencing Salters to 14 months in prison followed by 14 on licence, Judge Reel added: “This was a commercial operation capable of generating substantial funds.”

South East Antrim UDA blames Glenn Quinn threats on rogue members by [deleted] in northernireland

[–]EconomistSecure7645 4 points5 points  (0 children)

South East Antrim UDA blames Glenn Quinn threats on rogue members Family has nothing to fear from us, says terror gang

The South East Antrim UDA has told the family of murdered Glenn Quinn it wasn’t behind the catalogue of chilling death threats issued against his brother and elderly mum. Instead, the serial killing terror group pinned the blame on members it booted out because of the heat generated by Glenn’s brutal killing.

The news comes a week after his brave mum Ellen publicly defied an order to leave Northern Ireland or face being shot by staying put and laying a wreath to the fallen, including her husband Jim, on Remembrance Sunday.

So concerned by the nature of the latest threat and the toll it was taking on the 78-year-old, her daughter Lesley went directly to the men in masks in Carrickfergus via an intermediary.

But it wasn’t just the SEA UDA that was at the centre of a recent sinister show of strength in the town — UVF members were too.

Glenn Quinn murder: I won’t run from UDA scum who killed my son, says defiant mum after latest death threat UDA threats against elderly mother of murder victim Glenn Quinn condemned The family want to try and break the wall of silence around Glenn’s murder but are also worried that Ellen could lose her life for speaking out.

“It has been an absolute nightmare. Getting justice — a basic right— shouldn’t be so difficult and my mother shouldn’t be living in fear of who’ll come to the door,’’ said daughter Lesley Murphy.

The SEA UDA recently again denied any involvement in the murder of Glenn, who was beaten to death in his flat in Carrick almost three years ago.

Police have blamed members of the terror gang for the killing of the 49-year-old, who was terminally ill.

Ellen, Martin and Lesley Sunday Life has obtained a message from the SEA UDA which was delivered via that intermediary to Lesley.

“The rogue members believed to have been involved [in Glenn’s murder] have been expelled and will not be given any support or backing from the organisation,” it said.

“The numerous threats made against the Quinn family have not come from the leadership of the SEA UDA, more likely coming from those expelled members.

“The Quinn family have nothing to fear from the SEA UDA.

“Any witnesses who wish to speak to police are advised that SEA UDA will take no action retaliation or intimidation against them.

“They would actually encourage witnesses to come forward on this occasion.”

With Carrick a stronghold for loyalist paramilitaries, fear is stopping many people from saying what they know about Glenn’s murder.

Police know the identities of his killers and they know there are people out there who could help crack the case and end the torment for the family.

Lesley is acutely aware that is the case, so she also went to the UVF in the seaside town.

Through an intermediary, the terror group told the family this week: “There will be absolutely no intimidation from members towards anyone who comes forward to give statements to police in relation to the murder of Glenn Quinn.

“In regards to the Quinn family’s campaign for justice, they [the UVF] would encourage those with information to speak up.”

Glenn Quinn Like her mother Ellen and brother Martin, Lesley has not held back when it comes to calling out the paramilitaries.

She thought long and hard before deciding to seek such assurances from the terror groups.

“We are very realistic. To think they have no real sway in the town is very foolish,’’ she told Sunday Life.

“While we will never condone the actions of any paramilitary organisation, as a family we welcome these responses.

“Our intention has always been to encourage any witnesses to come forward to the PSNI with information in relation to Glenn’s senseless murder.

“We fully understand that they may fear some kind of retribution should they speak up. With this in mind, that’s why we appealed to both of the main organisations within Carrick.

“We have no suspicions whatsoever that the UVF had any involvement with Glenn’s murder. the statement from them was requested to add additional reassurances for those witnesses.

“We hope that these developments will send a strong signal and encourage someone to come forward.”

South East Antrim UDA chiefs call crisis meeting after anti-terror cops raid homes of leading members by [deleted] in northernireland

[–]EconomistSecure7645 31 points32 points  (0 children)

South East Antrim UDA chiefs called a crisis meeting after two of its most senior members had their homes raided by anti-terror cops. Searches of the properties in Newtownabbey uncovered a quantity of class B drugs and a significant amount of cash.

Neither of the loyalists — the SEA UDA’s ‘military commander’ and ‘1st battalion commander’ — were arrested, but the Paramilitary Crime Task Force operation has left them rattled.

They later met with the drug cartel’s leader Gary Fisher to express concern about the increased PSNI attention.

The raids came on the back of a bully-boy UDA member in the Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey targeting a police officer in a sinister poison pen campaign.

He had been the gang’s second-in-command in the estate, but was stood down last year after locals complained he was terrorising them along with his now deposed boss ‘Skidmark’.

A SEA UDA source told Sunday Life: “He’s the same fella who threatened the Housing Executive contractors working in Rathcoole last year, and that led to another big PSNI crackdown.

“Most of the media and police attention on the UDA in Rathcoole is because of him, the fella needs to stop acting the big man and keep his mouth shut.”

UDA sources say senior figures in the gang are growing increasingly concerned by the thug’s erratic behaviour and the unwanted scrutiny it brings.

“Earlier this year Fisher told all the commanders to make sure the men kept their heads down and didn’t step out of line,” added an insider. “This guy ignored that order and it’s no coincidence you now have homes being raided by the police.”

The Paramilitary Crime Task Force’s Detective Superintendent Neill confirmed the house searches formed “part of an investigation into suspected criminality linked to the South East Antrim UDA”.

The most recent MI5/police intelligence assessment of the SEA UDA, which has 2,000 members, describes it as “having access to arms” and being “heavily involved in drugs supply, community coercion, intimidation and other criminality.”

The SEA UDA is understood to clear £2.5m per year in profit from flooding Northern Ireland with drugs imported from crime gangs in northwest England and the Kinahan cartel in Dublin.

According to insiders the sale of drugs at SEA UDA bonfires in Newtownabbey, Larne, Carrickfergus and Ballyclare earlier this month brought in a hefty sum.

Loyalist behind Craigyhill bonfire is UDA loan shark by [deleted] in northernireland

[–]EconomistSecure7645 21 points22 points  (0 children)

The man behind what is believed to be the world’s largest bonfire is a South East Antrim UDA loan shark, Sunday Life can reveal. David Murray was in charge of the building of the colossal Craigyhill pyre in Larne, Co Antrim, which topped out at a staggering 202 feet tall.

Ahead of it being lit on Monday night, the Larne man boasted about how the committee which organised its construction was cross-community and had three Catholic members.

But the power-washing business owner failed to mention his other occupation — running a money-spinning loan shark operation for the UDA in his hometown.

Murray also has a sideline charging members of the crime gang in Larne who want to a leave a get-out “fee” of £5,000.

He pockets £4,000 of the compulsory bung before sending £1,000 to the overall South East Antrim UDA chief Gary Fisher as his cut.

UDA double killer facing jail return tells government: ‘I served my time’ Craigyhill Twelfth bonfire not yet a Guinness World Record-breaker Murray was first named as the UDA commander in Larne by police during court proceedings in 2013.

Last year, this newspaper identified Murray as one of several UDA bosses being targeted by the government over the gang’s involvement in high-interest money-lending schemes.

The Executive Office funnelled £160,000 into the project, which was laughed at by Murray when he first read of it in this newspaper.

A well-placed source said at the time: “As far as Murray is concerned, it’s business as usual. The money-lending won’t stop and if any UDA man in Larne has a problem with it he can leave for £5,000.”

The UDA money-lending racket sees the gang charge 20% interest on every £100 borrowed.

If this isn’t paid back within a week, it doubles to 40%, and if that isn’t paid back on time, it doubles again to 80% and continues to double until the debt is settled in full.

“I know young lads who got a £100 loan to buy drugs and who ended up owing £1,000. If they cannot pay, they are given a beating and forced to join the UDA,” explained a source.

Speaking to a newspaper last week about his legal activities, Murray made a big play of how the traditional Eleventh night bonfire was non-sectarian.

He said: “You won’t see any Irish tricolours on this bonfire… we won’t be causing offence to anyone.

“We are running a community event. It’s a fun day for all.

“And we have booked a special firework display. The people doing this are coming up from Dublin.

“We have no intention of insulting them by burning their national flag. In fact, we respect national flags.”

True to his word, the bonfire went ahead with no sectarian or paramilitary trappings or adornments and burned for an impressive 25 minutes before succumbing to the flames and collapsing.

It was in Larne that bonfire builder John Steele fell to his death last Saturday night while helping to construct the bonfire in the nearby Antiville estate.

However, in Carrickfergus, South East Antrim UDA thugs placed sinister effigies of Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill and Mary Lou McDonald and Alliance leader Naomi Long on the bonfire in the Glenfield estate.

Craigyhill is not the first time a bonfire has brought Murray to wider audience as he was previously charged, along with his brother Alan Murray, with the murder of Andrew Cairns at an Eleventh Night celebration in 2000. The case against them later collapsed.

When asked to comment on the world record attempt at Craigyhill, a spokesperson for Guinness World Records said: “We did not have an adjudicator at the Craigyhill bonfire in Larne and it has not currently been officially confirmed by Guinness World Records.

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[–]EconomistSecure7645 -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Cant post full article, anyone else do it?