An Irish government plane took off Saturday to extradite a suspected transnational cartel boss, Daniel Joseph Kinahan, from Dubai to face trial over alleged serious crime offences, local media reported. A government jet took off Saturday morning to pick up Kinahan and was expected to return with him Sunday, Irish national broadcaster RTE reported. Ireland’s justice ministry declined to comment and Garda police told AFP it would not comment on media reports and that Kinahan’s case “remains a matter for the authorities in the United Arab Emirates at this time”. The 49-year-old Irishman allegedly ran a group out of Dubai that has been linked by U.S. and European authorities to a vast criminal enterprise dealing in drug smuggling and money laundering. He was arrested in Dubai in April after a warrant was issued in Ireland for “alleged serious organized crime offences” and lost appeals against extradition. On arrival in Ireland, Kinahan was expected to be taken to the Special Crime Court in Dublin amid a large security operation, RTE reported. The transnational group, known as the Kinahan Organised Crime Group (KOCG), is alleged to be the most powerful organised crime in Ireland with wealth estimated by Irish police at over 1 billion euros (£856 million). Kinahan would be the second senior figure in the cartel to be extradited from Dubai. Sean McGovern, described by a judge as “senior lieutenant in the cartel”, was the first senior associate to be extradited after his arrest in 2024. In June, he was sentenced to 24 years in prison in Ireland after pleading guilty to directing organised crime and attempted murder. The case related to a long-running violent feud between the Kinahan cartel and the rival Dublin-based Hutch gang. The U.S. government in 2022 imposed sanctions on Kinahan and other members of his family identified as leaders of the cartel. It designated them as running a narcotics trafficking organization active in Ireland, the United Kingdom and throughout mainland Europe, and engaging in “money laundering, firearms trafficking, and murder”. The U.S. Treasury said Kinahan was believed to run the cartel’s day-to-day operations, while his brother Christopher was also designated. Their father, also named Christopher, “aka the Dapper Don”, oversaw the gang’s property, the US government said, offering up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest of the father and sons. Europol also designated the three men as “high value targets”.
