The Power of Open Source Intelligence in Modern Investigations

This week we spoke to John Mooney and Connor Plunkett about their investigation into the Kinahan cartel. We discussed the considerations you need to make when reporting on large scale operations and how they found a hidden side to one of Irelands most notorious cartel bosses.

The talk was hosted by Charlotte Maher on Thursday April 24th 2025. Music featured is courtesy of Artlist.

Recorded live in the Bellingcat Discord Server: https://discord.com/invite/bellingcat

Links discussed:

Bellingcat's reporting on this here: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2024/03/30/kinahan-cartel-wanted-narco-boss-exposes-whereabouts-by-posting-google-reviews/

and here: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2025/03/22/nowhere-to-run-the-online-footprint-of-an-alleged-kinahan-cartel-associate/

Sunday Times reporting on Oliver Hermann https://www.thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/kinahan-investigation-oliver-hermann-leveris-jkvrp8n8w

GHunt tool: https://bellingcat.gitbook.io/toolkit/more/all-tools/ghunt

Whois lookup: https://www.whois.com/whois/

Outscraper: https://outscraper.com/

Bellingcat workshops: https://www.bellingcat.com/workshops/

Digital safety tips - Bellingcat video: https://youtu.be/o9uFeVVIiVg

Kinahan's google reviews account: https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/107715424953684019563/reviews