Thomas 'Bomber' Kavanagh was the feared head of the Kinahan gang's UK faction before he was eventually taken down by police and jailed in 2022.

A notorious Irish crime boss who lived in a bulletproof house near Tamworth while running a drug empire will feature in a new BBC documentary.

A new BBC documentary will follow the story of the Kinahan crime group, which will highlight the "mafia"’s drug smuggling and the crimes of Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh.

The documentary, titled ‘Kinahan: The True Story of Ireland’s Mafia’, will tell the story of one of the world’s most feared and notorious criminal organisations, which began as a small-time street dealing operation in 1980s Dublin.

The four-part series will highlight the mob's activities, including its role in the drug trade, the threat it posed to the Irish state, and the gangland feuding, double dealing, betrayal, and murder which unfolded.

It will also follow the story of Kavanagh, who lived in a bulletproof house in Mile Oak, near Tamworth, and was the "main man in the UK" for the Kinahan gang.

Kavanagh, the head of the Kinahan gang's UK faction, was eventually taken down by police and jailed in 2022.

He is currently serving a a huge prison sentence for smuggling “multiple kilos” of cocaine and cannabis into the UK.

Kavanagh was linked to crimes stretching across Europe and was known to be a keen boxer in his youth.

He was part of a family crime ring which saw his brother-in-law Neil Kavanagh and son Daniel Kavanagh also locked up for drug offences.

The court heard how Bomber Kavanagh had a "pivotal role" in the huge enterprise which saw drugs trafficked from Spain and the Netherlands into the UK.

The enterprise was capable of handling "multiple kilos" of cocaine and cannabis at a time, the court heard.

The family crime ring was finally taken apart by an elite police taskforce which spent two years investigating the illegal activities.

The investigation, codenamed Operation Laurel, was launched in January 2020 after police uncovered a plot to import cocaine into the UK.

The first episode will begin with the story of Kinahan gang member, David Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel in Dublin in 2016 during a boxing weigh-in.

The second episode will see how the cartel grew more powerful due to levels of cocaine consumption across Europe, in the early 2000s.

The first three episodes of the documentary will be available on BBC iPlayer from 6am today, March 31. The final episode will be available on BBC iPlayer at a later date.