Irish cartel boss Daniel Kinahan arrested in Dubai on organized crime charges
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An international fugitive was arrested in Dubai this week after a years-long manhunt.
Daniel Kinahan, the alleged leader of the Kinahan cartel, one of Ireland’s largest criminal gangs, was arrested on organized crime charges on Wednesday in an undercover operation involving Irish and United Arab Emirates authorities.
The 48-year-old alleged crime boss is expected to face charges over a gang feud in Ireland between the Kinahan cartel and the Hutch gang that has left 18 people dead since 2015.
Dubai police did not name Kinahan, saying they had “arrested an Irish fugitive in his own country for his alleged involvement in an organized crime group involved in international crimes.”
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Daniel Kinahan and the division of Dubai (US Treasury Department; Fadel SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)
He was identified by Irish media outlets on Friday.
Garda Síochána, Ireland’s national police force, said an Irish man in his 40s was arrested pursuant to an arrest warrant issued by the Irish courts.
“An Garda Síochána has been steadfast in our determination to pursue individuals alleged to be involved in serious Organized Crime activity wherever they go,” police said in a statement, according to The Irish Star. he said. “Today’s arrest is an extremely important demonstration of the need for international law enforcement cooperation in the fight against transnational organized crime.”
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Members of An Garda Síochána in Dublin in February. (Natalia Campos/Getty Images)
Kinahan fled Ireland to Spain and then to the UAE after he was believed to have been the target of an assassination attempt that left David Byrne, an associate of the Kinahan cartel, dead at the boxing weigh-ins in Dublin’s Regency Hotel.
The US Treasury Department has offered a reward of $5 million in 2022 for information leading to the arrest of leaders of the Kinahan cartel or the “financial ruin” of the organization.
Spanish police officers raided 11 locations in Spain and the UK in 2022 and arrested four people linked to Spain’s largest known money laundering syndicate, suspected of laundering more than €200 million in 18 months. The main target is considered a high-value individual by Europol and is affiliated with the Irish Kinahan cartel. (Spanish Civil Guard/Anadolu Agency)
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The cartel is seen as an overwhelming force in the European drug trade and, together with other European criminal organisations, has created a “super cartel” that controls around a third of Europe’s cocaine trade.
Kinahan is also connected to the boxing world and is the founder of boxing management company MTK Global.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report.
