Graham "the wig" Whelan is an Irish criminal who is part of the

Kinahan Organised Crime Group The Kinahan Organised Crime Group (KOCG), also known as the Kinahan Cartel, is a major Irish transnational organised crime syndicate alleged to be the most powerful in Ireland and one of the largest organised crime groups in the world. It is als ...

Early life

He is originally from Clonard Road in Crumlin.

Criminal history

Crumlin-Drimnagh feud

He was one of three men arrested in the Holiday Inn Hotel in Pearse Street in 2000 for possession of €1.6 million worth of

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tablets and

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. He was 17 at the time and told Gardaí that he could do ten years in jail "standing on his head". The arrests resulted in the

Crumlin-Drimnagh feud The Crumlin-Drimnagh feud is a feud between rival criminal gangs in south inner city Dublin, Ireland. The feud began in 2000 when a drugs seizure led to a split in a gang of young criminals in their late teens and early twenties, most of whom ha ...

, in which he sided with Freddie Thompson. He was given a six-year sentence after conviction and Phillip Griffiths was sentenced to seven years. Declan Gavan, the third man arrested, was fatally stabbed a week before his trial was due to start. In 2006 hitman Gary Bryan was murdered as part of the feud. Whelan was arrested in 2007 in relation to this, but later released without charge, as was

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

. He moved to the UK in 2011 and was connected to Thomas Kavanagh.

Spain arrest

He was convicted of

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in Spain in 2016 after a brawl and sentenced to two years imprisonment suspended.

Ballsbridge arrest

On 31 January 2019 he was arrested in the International Hotel,

Ballsbridge Ballsbridge () (from historic Ball's Bridge) is an affluent neighbourhood of the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The area is largely north and west of a three-arch stone bridge across the River Dodder, on the south side of the city. Th ...

. He was found in possession of an

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Royal Oak gentleman's watch and €1,275, both of which were later found to be the proceeds of crime. When asked where he got the money, he replied "up me Swiss roll" and told them to keep the money. At the Special Criminal Court defence council admitted that he had been "truculent" but that he had since become cooperative. He pleaded guilty to possession of the watch and cash, knowing them to be proceeds of crime and also of paying €2,140 for a three night stay at the International Hotel, knowing or believing the money to be proceeds of crime. In November 2021 he was sentenced to four years imprisonment, reduced to three years because of his early guilty plea and 18 months of the that sentence was suspended. It was mentioned in court that he had 33 previous convictions, 5 for drug-related offences.

Personal life

He and his wife have four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whelan, Graham Irish criminals Living people 2000 crimes in the Republic of Ireland 2016 crimes in Spain 2019 crimes in the Republic of Ireland Criminals from Dublin (city) Year of birth missing (living people) Kinahan Organised Crime Group