Nicola Tallent

30 pairs of identical Armani jeans, Gucci labels, a collection of handbags that a Kardashian would be proud of.

This was how the cartel's profits were laundered, through spending sprees and rolls of cash handed across the shop counters in Harrods.

The definition of ill-gotten gains was hanging in wardrobes in his luxury mansion in Tamworth.

Cartel members know the risk of peddling drugs across international borders.

But when officers start rifling through their six-figure wardrobes, confiscating their luxury watches and handbag collections, it does hit a nerve.

The court's inventory of Bomber's lavish spending gave an inkling into just how far removed he'd become from the day-to-day drug trade.

He oversaw the delegation of smuggling routes of finance and of enforcement to trusted lieutenants.

The proceedings in Ipswich Crown Court didn't just mark the fall of Thomas Bommer Cavanagh's personal empire.

They also signal something far bigger.

Bomber's collapse marks the first true fracture in what had long looked like an impenetrable underworld machine.

The cartel's chief strategist, the man who kept its international supply lines running smoothly, had finally been taken down.

Seen as untouchable for years, his sentence for importing tens of millions of pounds of drugs was a major shot across the bow of the Kinahan cartel.

And just two weeks after Kavanaugh's sentencing, the United States raised the stakes.

You've been listening to an extract from our nine-part series, The Science of Fear, about the rise and fall of Daniel Kinahan's right-hand man, Thomas Bomber Kavanagh.

To listen to all nine parts, log on to crimeworld.com and hit subscribe.

So you know it's not a crime to be fascinated by all things criminal.

And if you do like delving into the underworld, why not join us for a special live show on March 27th at the Cork Opera House.

We'll be talking about the making of a cartel and all the wild and crazy stories that happened along the way.

So why not join us for this special live show?

Tickets from CorkPodcastFestival.ie Just kind of