Alleged Irish mob boss Daniel Kinahan was charged in Dublin, Ireland on August 9th with directing a criminal organization.
The 49-year-old Kinahan was arrested in April in Dubai, where he had been residing for several years, following an extradition request from the Republic of Ireland. He was flown to a military base on the outskirts of Dublin after being handed over to Irish authorities in Dubai earlier Sunday - after which he was taken directly to the court for an unusual Sunday night sitting. Kinahan was remanded into custody afterward.
After acknowledging that he he understood the charges, and one of the three presiding judges told him a bail application could only be made through the High Court, Kinahan said: "I think we know I won't be getting bail, but thank you so much for explaining."
He told the court he had not had time to arrange legal representation while being held in custody in Dubai, and believed a relative was arranging counsel. Kinahan will remain in custody and will have to appear again, either in person or via video link, on Oct. 5.
In Ireland, the Special Criminal Court hears cases involving terrorism and organized crime, which are heard by judges rather than a jury.
Justin Kelly, the commissioner of An Garda Síochána, Ireland's police force, said Kinahan was handed over in Dubai as a result of an arrest warrant issued by the Irish courts, and was extradited following a judicial process in the UAE, the Epoch Times reports.
"This arrest shows our determination, along with our international policing partners including Dubai Police, to target transnational organized crime groups," Kelly said. "As the matter will be before the Courts, An Garda Síochána will not be making any further comment."
As The Epoch Times notes further, In April 2022, Kinahan was named by the United States as one of three leaders of the Kinahan Organized Crime Group (KOCG) and a $5 million reward was offered for information leading to his arrest.
At the time, then-U.S. Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said, "The Kinahan Organized Crime Group smuggles deadly narcotics, including cocaine, to Europe, and is a threat to the entire licit economy through its role in international money laundering."
In April 2023, Kinahan's alleged rival, Gerry "The Monk" Hutch, was acquitted at the Special Criminal Court of trying to kill Kinahan.
The prosecution claimed that on Feb. 5, 2016, Hutch tried to kill Kinahan at a weigh-in for a boxing event at the Regency Hotel in Dublin, but he slipped away, and an associate, David Byrne, 33, was fatally shot instead.
The Regency Hotel shooting was allegedly carried out in revenge for the murder of Hutch's nephew, Gary Hutch, in Spain in September 2015 by the Kinahan gang.
After the Regency Hotel shooting, another 18 people were murdered in a series of tit-for-tat killings over the next three years. Hutch was arrested in Spain in August 2021, and extradited to Ireland, but after being acquitted, he returned to Spain.
Kinahan gave an interview with British podcaster James English last week, denying the allegations against him and saying everything was "in God's hands."
"I always wanted to do good things and big things," Kinahan said. "Obviously life didn't go that way for me, what with all the stuff in the media and what people think of me and the perception they have. But I'm still so proud to be from Ireland."
In March 2022, Thomas Kavanagh, who Britain's National Crime Agency said acted as the figurehead of the Kinahan organization in the UK, was jailed for 21 years after being convicted of smuggling large quantities of cocaine and cannabis into Britain. Two other Irishmen, described as associates, Gary Vickery and Daniel Canning, were also jailed.
The National Crime Agency's deputy director of investigations, Matt Horne, said at the time that the cartel brought millions of pounds worth of drugs into Britain.
"Kavanagh was a high ranking member of the Kinahan cartel, an organized crime group synonymous with acts of violence," Horne said.
