Police gangland swoop nets the 'Irish Godfather'

A MAN suspected of heading a vast international drugs, guns and money laundering empire has been arrested during raids in Britain, Ireland and mainland Europe.

Christy Kinahan, dubbed the "Irish Godfather", was held with his two sons when dozens of armed police descended on their mansion in Malaga, Spain.

The 53-year-old Irish-born British passport holder is alleged to be the kingpin of a global crime conspiracy which traded in drugs, guns and laundered hundreds of millions of euros in dirty cash.

Sources said Kinahan was one of the top targets for international crime-fighting agencies.

More than 750 police officers were involved in the raids co-ordinated by police in London, Dublin and Malaga.

The Kinahans were among 20 people, including four Spanish lawyers, held by Spanish National Police on the Costa del Sol, an area notorious for its links to crime.

Another man arrested was Irishman John Cunningham, considered by police to be Kinahan's right-hand man. Cunningham was convicted over the 1986 kidnap of heiress Jennifer Guinness in Ireland.

In Britain, around 230 officers arrested nine men and two women as they searched business and residential premises in London, the Thames Valley, Kent and the West Midlands.

Officers also searched properties in Belgium, Cyprus and Brazil.