CAB targets ‘The Chosen Few’ biker gang motorcycles

Two men, Anthony Ainscough Snr and Anthony Ainscough Jnr, are named in the case in which the bureau is seeking to have 13 motorbikes declared the proceeds of crime.

They appeared at the High Court this week, where it was heard that CAB have filed a case against them outlining why such an order should be granted.

Judge Alex Owens told the two men, who were representing themselves, they will have to put in a replying affidavit setting out “your versions of events”.

He extended the time limit in which they have to make an official appearance in the case and advised them to get a solicitor.​

Both men wore baseball caps and face masks as they left the Four Courts building last Wednesday.

Sunday World sources confirmed the case is connected to the high-profile operation that saw The Chosen Few’s club raided.

The biker gang hit the headlines in 2016 when some members provided a motorcycle escort for the funeral of David Byrne, who was murdered in the Regency Hotel gun attack.

Wearing full biker regalia with patched leather jackets and sunglasses, they led the cortege – which included 10 black limousines – in a show of strength by the Kinahan Cartel.

Key Cartel figures such as Daniel Kinahan, ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson and James ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh openly attended the funeral.

Others who weren’t known publicly as Cartel members at the time were also at the burial, including ‘Mr Nobody’ Declan Brady and ‘mid-tier’ money launderer Sean Ruth.

The Chosen Few’s display highlighted the links between the biker club and the Byrne crime gang in Crumlin.

Their compound is a short walk from gang leader Liam Byrne’s old family home and he is known to have visited the premises.

When the Criminal Assets Bureau sent officers into the compound in October 2020 it involved a massive garda operation.

A digger was used to break through the remote-control steel gate in an early-morning raid after the power had been cut to shut off the club’s security cameras.

As the member of the Emergency Response Unit drove through the gate other officers used a ladder to climb the rear fence, cutting the razor wire to get into the half-acre compound.

A Garda helicopter hovered above as armed officers used angle grinders to cut through more steel partitions inside.

A Garda spokesman said at the time: “Today’s search operation targeted a criminal grouping aligned to a number of organised crime groups involved in drug trafficking and organised criminality nationally.”

In 2019, detectives seized imitation firearms and up to 100 swords and knives in another raid on The Chosen Few premises.

Dozens of officers took part in the raid on that occasion in which a small amount of cash and drugs was recovered, but no arrests were made.

It is not known if The Chosen Few has links with any other biker clubs around the world that use the same name.

Other international biker organisations such as the Hells Angels and the Banditos firmly control clubs using their names.

Both the Banditos and the Hells Angels have a presence in Ireland, with clubs based here that are considered full members.