Glen Ward – Mr Flashy

Glen Ward: Coolock Feud

Between 2016 and 2019, the Gucci Gang came into conflict with a number of other Irish criminal gangs that operated in the area, and were known to take part in the Kinahan-Hutch feud that had been an ongoing and violent confrontation between two of the biggest organized crime groups, leading to the deaths of dozens. In 2017, Ward was officially warned by gardaí that his life was in danger, but the violence continued.

During what became known as the “Cooklock feud,” a number of Ward’s associates were killed in 2019. On January 17, 2019, Gucci Gang member Zach Parker was shot dead outside a gym in Applewood Close in Swords. Parker had been driving out of a car park when a gunmen shot him and his passenger.

23-year-old Parker died at the scene, while his 25-year-old passenger was wounded and taken to Beaumont Hospital. Parker had previous convictions for drug dealing, and it was suspected his killing was connected to local drug gangs. According to Gardaí, Parker’s death was attributed to the Gucci gang.

Investigators believed that Parker had secured a relatively small amount of drugs on credit from the Gucci gang which were later seized by Gardaí. It was therefore suspected that Parker, unable to pay back the money, was shot dead by his own associates. This was considered a message to anyone who might consider crossing the gang.

Several months later, another Gucci gang associate was killed. 22-year-old Seán Little was shot dead on May 21, 2019. His body was found beside a burning Opel Insignia at Rowan’s Little, near Walshestown, near junction 5 of the M1. Although an associate of Ward, it was believed Little was killed because he wanted revenge for murder of his friend Zach Parker.

Although Little had worked as a drug dealer in the Kilmore area for a gang that operated under Flashy’s orders, gardai had received information in the months before his death that he had been operating beyond Ward’s sphere of influence, and was using the Kinahan cartel’s name when he refused to pay money for drug shipments supplied by the Gucci gang.

Gardai received information that an 04 D registered silver Toyota Avensis, that was later found burned out at Castletimon Gardens, had been seen outside Little’s house before the murder. It was suspected the same car had been used by the three masked men to flee the scene of Little’s shooting.

The day after Little’s death, one of his friends was slain by gunmen. Jordan Davis was bringing his four month old son for a walk in a buggy when he was shot in a laneway off Marigold Road, Darndale. The following month an arrest was made in connection with Davis murder, and police believed it was part of the Coolock feud.

The killer of both Little and Davis was believed to be 41-year-old Hamid Sanambar, an Iranian national given asylum in Ireland. According to police sources, Sanambar, who began his criminal career as a low level associate before becoming a hitman, had been brought into the Gucci gang by Ward, who boasted he had been recruited for protection.

Investigators were working on the theory that Seán Little was murdered because of his refusal to accept the contract on the life of his friend Jordan Davis. Little’s associates believed that Sanambar was ordered to kill Little for his refusal to kill Davis, who reportedly owed €70,000 in drug debts, and was himself killed 17 hours later by the same hitman.

A source said: “Little’s associates were out for blood after the murder and blamed this individual,” adding “It’s still early days in this investigation but one thing that is being looked at is the possibility Little was killed for refusing to take out Davis.” The following day, just ten minutes after he paid tribute to his close pal Little online, Davis was blasted four times while walking his four-month-old child.

Investigators were looking into a line of inquiry that Little was seen rowing with another man in a car before he was shot dead, a man police presume was Hamid Sanambar. In May 2019, Sanambar attended Balbriggan Garda Station and there claimed his innocence, and that he did not carry out the shootings of Little and Davis.

It was known that Seán Little had worked as Sanambar’s driver, and as the two were considered friends as well as criminal associates, it is believed Sanambar was lured to Little’s house to “pay his respects” after having earlier pleaded his innocence in his murder. There, at Little’s house, Sanambar was ambushed.

Sanambar, who was known to regularly wear a bulletproof vest, was blasted to death as he stood at the front of slain Sean Little’s house at Kilbarron Avenue, Coolock in Dublin, at around 3.30pm on May 28, 2019. The lifeless body of the Kinahan and Gucci Gang hitman was photographed lying in a pool of his own blood.

Police discovered that CCTV cameras outside the Little home were turned facing the wall, presumably by Sanambar’s killers around an hour before he was shot dead. The murder of Hamid Sanambar was believed to be the result of his involvement in the murders of both Little and Davis, deaths that would have benefitted the Gucci Gang.

Sanambar, a known associate of another hitman in Ardee, Co Louth who is suspected of carrying out at least five hits, had previously lived in Co Longford. There he had aligned himself to a Traveller gang involved in drug dealing. According to police sources, Sanambar took part in forcing local families, through intimidation, to leave so his associates could buy up cheap houses.

Sanambar was reportedly forging links with several different crime gangs across the country. One source said: “This dangerous individual had links to gangs not only in Longford and Dublin, but also in Cork and Limerick. He was making a name for himself, and by no means was just a small player.”

Considered as a suspect in the murder of Eric Fowler, who had connections to both Kinahan and Hutch factions, and who was shot dead on December 22, 2018, Sanambar had made many enemies among several different drug dealing crime factions throughout Ireland. Police were working on the theory that all four murders were related to, and part of the Coolock feud.