From Caribbean beaches to Middle Eastern luxury, sources say the 30-year-old’s movements read more like a travel itinerary than the trail of a wanted man
Keith Boylan at court(Image: Supplied)
Drogheda mob boss Keith Boylan is living a jet-set lifestyle on the run, swapping hiding places for holiday hotspots, as he dodges gardaí while allegedly continuing to exert influence back home.
From Caribbean beaches to Middle Eastern luxury, sources say the 30-year-old’s movements read more like a travel itinerary than the trail of a wanted man.
The details of the spending trail of Boylan, the alleged leader of the Boylan Organised Crime Group, were given in evidence at the sentencing hearing of Keith’s girlfriend Hannah O’Connor for money laundering earlier this week.
And the details chart a globe-trotting route with transactions linked to Cancun in Mexico, Istanbul in Turkey, Dubai in the UAE and Belgrade in Serbia between 2020 and 2022.
It paints a picture of a man who, despite being on the run, was anything but out of reach. He has been on the run for the past six years, since early 2020.
Cancun is known for its white-sand beaches and azure Caribbean water
But behind that globe-trotting lifestyle, sources say a far larger financial operation was at play, with more than €3million allegedly funnelled through accounts held by women and other associates linked to the Boylan Organised Crime Group.
That money, investigators believe, helped bankroll both the organisation and his life abroad. A number of females linked to the Boylan brothers have already been sentenced for their parts in laundering money for the organised crime group.
Several more women, who pleaded guilty to their roles in the money laundering operation, are to be sentenced at later dates.
Boylan, 30, of Moneymore in Drogheda, was named in court last year for the first time by a garda witness in a money laundering case as head of the crime group of violent thugs involved in drug dealing and the Drogheda feud. His brother Josh, 26, was named as the group’s “second in command”.
Earlier this week at the sentencing hearing for Hannah O’Connor, 27, for money laundering, Dundalk Circuit Court heard that after fleeing Drogheda in January 2020, Keith Boylan allegedly kept himself comfortably funded by going cashless, using a Revolut account to pay his way as he moved from country to country.
Hannah O’Connor pictured outside court in 2024. (Image: Mick O’Neill/Daily Mirror/Irish Daily Star)
Detective Garda McManus told the court gardai are satisfied Boylan had control of Ms O’Connor’s Revolut account, which Keith used for day-to-day living expenses while on the run.
Between two accounts in Ms O’Connor’s name, a total of €520,000 was laundered while Keith remains out of reach.
Boylan is also now at the centre of a wider garda investigation into the Drogheda feud, with sources saying he is expected to face further serious charges if arrested or returned to Ireland.
Investigators believe Keith plays a senior role in an organised crime group that became heavily involved in the town’s violent drugs war, which escalated from 2018 and left a trail of intimidation, assaults, shootings and four murders, including that of teenager Keane Mulready-Woods.
(Image: PA)
The Boylan Organised Crime Group were at war with mob boss Owen Maguire, who was left paralysed after he was shot a number of times in 2018 by now slain serial killer Robbie Lawlor, and Maguire’s associate Cornelius Price, who died from a brain condition in Wales in February 2023.
Boylan’s younger brother Josh is also wanted by gardai, with both men remaining on the run since mid-2020 and are believed to be based in Dubai and Thailand respectively. It’s understood the brothers may face further feud related charges if they ever return to Ireland.
The brothers were due to stand trial before they fled Ireland for the kidnapping and torture of Aaron Rochford, 22, in a house in Moneymore, Drogheda in November 2018 before they fled overseas.
L-R: Keith and Josh Boylan.(Image: Supplied)
Several of their associates have already been sentenced for their role in that crime. Bench warrants have been issued for their arrests. Rochford subsequently died in non-suspicious circumstances in 2019.
It was the Boylan OCG’s associate, slain serial killer Lawlor who murdered 17-year-old Keane Mulready-Woods in January 2020.
While the murder itself was carried out by Lawlor, who was later murdered in Belfast in April 2020, the investigation continues to widen into those associated with the conflict.
Investigators also suspect Boylan and his associates allegedly continue to direct and supply drugs into Drogheda from abroad.
Sources say investigators are continuing to build cases against key figures within the organisation, with sources warning that “he can’t stay out of reach forever” as international enquiries continue to track movements, finances and alleged communications.
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