The extradition to Ireland of alleged crime gang director Daniel Kinahan (49) was a significant event globally, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has said. He also revealed he was present at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, Dublin, on Sunday evening when a handcuffed Kinahan was arrested and charged after being taken off the Government jet.
“It’s not just significant for An Garda Síochána, it’s significant for worldwide policing,” Kelly said yesterday in his first remarks about Kinahan (49) since his extradition.
“Obviously, as commissioner, you certainly know the significance of it, as I’m sure the whole country does. But, for me, to see ... I’m very proud of our organisation in terms of the work we’ve done on organised crime.
“When I see where we were at the time of the Regency [Hotel attack in Dublin in 2016] and where we are now, we have made such inroads and such strides into it. And the reputation of An Garda Síochána is very high internationally. We’ve worked with so many partners over the last number of years.”
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When asked by The Irish Times whether some of the men at the apex of the Kinahan cartel in Dubai, and who were sanctioned by the USA in 2022, were still active in international drug trafficking, Kelly said he did not want to be drawn into specifics.
“But we are certainly not finished with this,” he said of the cartel. “There’s other people we’re very interested in. So we continue our work.”
He said he believed Dubai Police’s willingness and ability to co-operate with the Garda was “absolutely second to none”. Agencies like Interpol and the US Drug Enforcement Administration were also crucial in aiding the Garda’s investigation of the cartel.
The Garda had “learned a lot” from its long-running inquiries, at home and abroad, into the Irish crime group.
The cartel spent 15 years in southern Spain growing into a large drug wholesaler before relocating to Dubai just over a decade ago.
A total of seven men, alleged to be at the apex of the cartel and mostly based in Dubai, had financial and travel sanctions imposed on them by the United States in April 2022.
One of those was Dubliner Sean McGovern, who was arrested in Dubai in October 2024 and has since been extradited to Ireland and jailed for 24 years for directing organised crime.
Daniel Kinahan was another of the sanctioned men and was arrested in Dubai in April. He is charged with directing organised crime between October 2015 and April 2017.
He will go on trial in Dublin, probably next year, though no findings have been made against him to date.
Kinahan’s father and brother, Christy Kinahan snr and Christopher Kinahan jnr, were also sanctioned in 2022, as was his cousin Ian Dixon. That trio remain living openly in Dubai.
