An Irish Government jet has departed for Dubai to facilitate the extradition of alleged gangland figure Daniel Kinahan. The aircraft took off from Casement Aerodrome on Saturday morning and is expected to arrive back in Ireland on Sunday evening.
Kinahan, who is in his late 40s, was detained in the United Arab Emirates in April based on an arrest warrant issued by Irish courts concerning alleged serious organized crime offenses. His arrest was executed under a bilateral extradition agreement between Ireland and the UAE.
The High Court in Dublin has previously identified Kinahan, a Dublin-based boxing promoter who had been residing in the UAE, as a senior figure within an organized crime group implicated in international drug trafficking and firearms offenses. The Kinahan cartel was notably involved in a feud with the Hutch crime gang in Ireland, a conflict that spanned from 2015 and resulted in 18 fatalities.
An attempt on Daniel Kinahan's life occurred in 2016 at a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in Dublin. In 2022, U.S. authorities offered a reward of up to five million dollars for information leading to Kinahan's arrest.
In anticipation of his arrival, the Irish Prison Service has procured a bomb-proof van for his transport, intended to mitigate risks of an attack aimed at killing him or facilitating his escape. The cartel is considered one of the most powerful criminal organizations globally, with reported ties to Iran and Hezbollah. Kinahan and other members of the group had been living openly in Dubai, a situation that followed years of gangland violence in Dublin and Spain's Costa del Sol.
This transfer follows years of international diplomatic efforts and legal proceedings aimed at bringing Kinahan to justice. Recently, Kinahan participated in a recorded phone interview from Al Awir Central Jail in Dubai with podcaster James English. In excerpts shared on social media, he acknowledged his past actions but claimed to have been a "scapegoat" for both the media and the Irish police. Regarding his impending extradition, he stated his willingness to travel on any flight, in any class, but added remarks suggesting he would not be suicidal if harm were to befall him during the process.