The suspected leader of one of Ireland’s largest criminal gangs was arrested in Dubai on Wednesday and is expected to face charges in his native country.
The now former fugitive was identified as 48-year-old Daniel Kinahan of the Kinahan cartel, Fox News reported Friday, noting his arrest is the result of a lengthy manhunt and covert operation that included Irish and United Arab Emirates officials.
He is “expected to face charges in Ireland related to a gangland feud between the Kinahan cartel and the Hutch gang that has left 18 people dead since 2015,” the outlet said.
In 2016, Kinahan was reportedly the target of an assassination attempt that became known as the Regency Hotel shooting in Dublin wherein his associate, David Byrne, was fatally shot, the BBC reported.
According to the U.S. Department of State’s website, there is a $5 million reward regarding Kinahan that is part of the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program. The agency detailed the cartel’s origins and how it shifted operations overseas:
The Kinahan Transnational Criminal Organization (KTCO) was established in Dublin, Ireland, by Christopher Vincent Kinahan in the 1990’s. Through time, Christopher Vincent incorporated his two sons, Daniel Joseph and Christopher, Jr., into his criminal organization. After becoming Ireland’s most powerful organized crime group, the KTCO quickly transcended international boundaries. The KTCO originally distributed South American cocaine and heroin in Ireland, and later to the United Kingdom and throughout mainland Europe. In addition to narcotics trafficking, the Kinahans have engaged in money laundering, firearms trafficking, and murder.
The KTCO gained notoriety in 2016 when a feud with the rival Hutch drug trafficking gang — also from the inner city of Dublin — led to a shooting attack at a Dublin hotel. The brazen daytime attack targeted Daniel Kinahan during a weigh-in for an MTK Global (formerly MGM) boxing match and shocked the Irish public. Although Daniel escaped unharmed, the subsequent and ongoing feud has resulted in 18 homicides, encompassing nearly all members or relatives and associates of the Hutch gang.
In light of the law enforcement response, the KTCO shifted operations to the United Kingdom, Spain, and the UAE.
“Law enforcement intelligence reports that Daniel Kinahan currently directs his most senior TCO members based in Dubai to carry out significant drug smuggling ventures and oversee money laundering operations which have been comingled through various legitimate commercial businesses,” the agency stated.
Kinahan eluded law enforcement for many years while also trying to “sports-wash himself to respectability in the world of boxing. He has lived a gilded life in Dubai and he has outrun, until now, a five million euro bounty set by the U.S. Treasury,” the Irish Independent reported Friday.
In a statement regarding his arrest, Ireland’s national police force, the Garda Síochána, said, “An Garda Síochána has been steadfast in our determination that we would pursue those allegedly involved in serious Organized Criminal activity, wherever they go. Today’s arrest is another extremely important demonstration of the need for international law enforcement co-operation in tackling transnational organized crime.”
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