Imre Arakas, also known as The Butcher, is an
Estonian
Estonian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe
* Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent
* Estonian language
* Estonian cuisine
* Estonian culture
See also ...
criminal.
He has also been a wrestler, an actor and an Estonian separatist.
[ He is a father of two.][
]
Criminal career
Soviet era
In 1979, aged twenty, he and Heiki Terras broke into a shooting club in Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
and stole 13 handguns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.[ Some saw the theft as a blow against the Soviet regime.][ Arakas was quickly arrested and escaped from the courthouse on 18 April 1979, evading authorities by jumping from the Kohtuotsa viewing platform on ]Toompea
Toompea (from , "Cathedral Hill") is a hill in the central part of Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. The hill has an area of and is about 20–30 metres higher than the surrounding areas.
Toompea is part of the medieval Tallinn Old Town, a ...
hill.[ He was arrested again after 87 days and sentenced to 15 years in jail, mostly in a high-security Russian facility.][
]
Post Soviet crime in Estonia
After release from prison he joined an Estonian organised crime gang and took part in a feud with Russian organised crime that killed over a hundred people.[ Arakas was nearly killed on more than one occasion.][
]
Spain
He left Estonia for Spain in 1998.[ A failed assassination attempt was made in ]Marbella
Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...
and two Estonians were jailed for their part in it.[
After this he became a freelance professional killer who is suspected of being responsible for a number of murders across Europe.][
]
Ireland
He was employed by the Kinahan gang
The Kinahan Organised Crime Group (KOCG), also known as the Kinahan Cartel, is a major Irish transnational organised crime syndicate alleged to be the most powerful in Ireland and one of the largest organised crime groups in the world. It is ...
as part of the Kinahan-Hutch feud.[ He was hired to kill James "Mago" Gately.][ Arakas owed a lot of money and the €100,000 payment for murdering Gately would pay off a large amount of it.][ Gardaí received intelligence that he was going to arrive in Ireland and put him under surveillance.][ The assassination was prevented and in 2018, he was jailed for six years by the ]Special Criminal Court
The Special Criminal Court (SCC; ) is a juryless criminal court in Ireland which tries terrorism and serious organised crime cases.
Legal basis
Article 38 of the Constitution of Ireland empowers the Dáil to establish "special courts" with ...
.Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison (), founded as Mountjoy Gaol and nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security men's prison located in Phibsborough in the centre of Dublin, Ireland.
The current prison Governor is Ray Murtagh.
History
Mountjoy was designed by Cap ...
he suffered a stroke
Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
.[
]
Charges in Lithuania
He is expected to be deported to Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
after release from prison where he faces murder charges.[ The victim was shot by a three-man gang.][ In June 2020 he announced that he would challenge the extradition. He was deported to Lithuania in 2023 where he was being held on murder charges.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arakas, Imre
1958 births
Living people
Estonian gangsters
Contract killers
Organized crime in Ireland
Fugitives wanted by Estonia
People convicted of attempted murder