Suspected crime boss Daniel Kinahan being extradited to Ireland in high-security operation

An Irish government aircraft carrying suspected crime figure Daniel Kinahan has left Dubai bound for Dublin. The 49-year-old was detained in the United Arab Emirates in April and is now being handed over to Irish authorities to face a charge of directing a criminal organisation.

Flight tracking data shows the plane left Dubai at 13:19 local time, with arrival in Dublin expected before 19:00 on Sunday. On landing, Kinahan will be charged immediately and taken by Irish police to appear before the non-jury Special Criminal Court, which sits with a panel of three judges.

Heavy security

A major security operation has been mounted around the handover. In preparation, the Irish Prison Service purchased a bulletproof, bombproof van intended for transporting high-risk prisoners.

Years of pursuit

Kinahan has long been sought by more than just Irish authorities — the US Treasury previously named his network among the world's most dangerous crime organisations and imposed sanctions on him in April 2022. He had resisted extradition, having left Ireland after the cartel became embroiled in a prolonged gangland feud that killed 18 people. Kinahan himself survived an assassination attempt during a 2016 shooting at a Dublin hotel. He subsequently lived in Spain and later Dubai, where Irish courts issued a warrant for his arrest in April; his appeals against extradition failed.

The UK's National Crime Agency has said the group spent over two decades smuggling large quantities of drugs and weapons internationally and has ties to more than a dozen gangland killings. Former Irish police commissioner Drew Harris has estimated the group's global earnings at over €1bn. The US has offered rewards of up to $5m for information on its three most senior figures — Daniel, his father Christopher Snr, and brother Christopher Jnr. In 2022, three men were jailed in the UK for between roughly 19 and 21 years over the group's drug trafficking operations. Kinahan's lawyer has previously said he has no criminal record and denied claims that he leads a crime organisation.