Christopher ‘Christy’ Kinahan, who was arrested as part of a large police operation on Tuesday last week, has been remanded to custody and denied bail

Christopher ‘Christy’ Kinahan, who was arrested as part of a large police operation on Tuesday last week, has been remanded to custody and denied bail in the First Instance and Instruction Court Three in Estepona.

The judge has now taken the statements of 18 people, and also ordered prison on remand for Kinahan’s two sons and two others. A further three people were granted bail set at 60,000 €.

Nine others have now been released, but with charges still outstanding, one of whom also has to report to the court every fortnight, has his passport withdrawn, and has been told not to leave the country.

The group faces charges of money laundering, drug trafficking and the falsification of documents.

The police operation, called ‘shovel’ saw arrests in Estepona, Marbella and Fuengirola last Tuesday, as well as actions in London and Dublin and a total of 31 arrests.

More than 500 police took part in making the arrests and more than 200 mercantile companies are being inspected thought to have been used in laundering money obtained by the criminal activities of the gang. 

The Spanish Interior Ministry said the gang invested most of the money in real estate on the Costa del Sol and in other places such as Brazil.