UAE extradites Daniel Kinahan to Ireland
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have extradited Daniel Kinahan to Ireland, the alleged leader of one of the world’s largest organized crime networks, who was arrested in Dubai in April, the official WAM news agency reported on Sunday, citing AFP.
The Kinahan Organized Crime Group (KOCG), also known as the “Irish mafia,” is accused by the United States and the European Union of engaging in large-scale criminal activities, particularly drug trafficking and money laundering, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.
With its wealth estimated by Irish police at more than €1 billion, the KOCG is considered Ireland’s most powerful criminal organization.
The 49-year-old “was extradited from the United Arab Emirates at the official request of Irish authorities to face prosecution for offenses related to transnational organized crime, including directing a criminal organization, murder and drug trafficking,” according to WAM.
The agency also reported that the justice ministers of the two countries recently discussed Kinahan’s extradition during a telephone conversation.
Kinahan was arrested in Dubai in April on the basis of an Irish arrest warrant after all of his appeals against extradition were rejected.
Irish public broadcaster RTE reported that his plane departed the UAE on Sunday morning, without specifying when it was expected to land at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, southwest of Dublin.
Upon his arrival in Ireland, Kinahan is expected to appear before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.
He will become the second senior member of the cartel to be extradited from Dubai, following Sean McGovern, who returned to Ireland in 2025 and was sentenced to 24 years in prison last June after pleading guilty.
The case, particularly linked to the killing of an Irish man in 2016, formed part of a long-running and violent feud between the Kinahan cartel and the rival Hutch gang in Dublin.
The U.S. government imposed sanctions on Kinahan and other members of his family in 2022, identifying them as leaders of the cartel.
Photo: Wikipedia
