GARDAÍ BELIEVE A man who was held captive and tortured earlier this month by a gang led by a man with links to the Kinahan Organised Crime Group may have owed money for drugs. 

Sources have said that the victim of the crime was believed to have owed money to a drugs gang based in the Tallaght area. 

His home, in return for paying off the debt, was used by the criminals to store drugs. 

It has emerged that the man either lost the drugs or they were stolen. This prompted the gang to kidnap him, hold him and torture him over a prolonged period. It is believed he escaped and raised the alarm. 

One of the gang who tortured him has direct links to the Kinahan Organised Crime Group (KOCG) and has previously been spotted in the company of senior KOCG players. 

In a statement this afternoon a garda spokesman said that members of the Serious Crime Unit were investigating drugs-related intimidation involving false imprisonment and assault causing harm of a man in early September 2026.

This morning investigating gardaí from the Serious Crime Unit, assisted by the Emergency Response Unit, the Armed Support Unit and other specialists, carried out searches under warrant at eleven houses across south and west Dublin and arrested six men.

They were arrested under anti-gangland legislation.

The men, ranging in age from 20s to 50s, are detained at garda stations in the Dublin Region under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007. This permits gardaí to hold them for up to seven days. 

The gardaí have seized electronic devices, including phones, and they will be examined to harvest information that could link the men to organised crime.

“An Garda Síochána appeals to any person, persons or family subjected to drug-related intimidation to contact An Garda Síochána as soon as possible.

“An Garda Síochána has a specific, dedicated and confidential Drug Related Intimidation (DRI) Reporting Programme, with nominated Inspectors nationwide available to advise, support and assist those affected.

“The Garda DRI programme is run in conjunction with DRIVE (Drug Related Intimidation & Violence Engagement) an interagency project, supported by the Department of Health to respond to drug-related intimidation and associated violence in Ireland,” the statement said.