Notorious Irish drug trafficker Daniel Kinahan, regarded as one of the world’s most wanted fugitives, has been extradited to Dublin after years spent living in self-imposed exile in Dubai.
Kinahan, the alleged head of the Kinahan organised crime group — a cartel believed to control assets valued at more than £1billion — was flown back to Ireland on an Irish government jet after a decade living openly in the United Arab Emirates.
The 49-year-old, who is the subject of a $5 million US bounty, was remanded in custody following an appearance before Dublin’s non-jury Special Criminal Court. Addressing the court, he said: ‘I think we all know I won’t be getting bail.’
After the hearing, Kinahan was moved under heavy security in a convoy of blacked-out BMW SUVs to Portlaoise Prison, the high-security jail that houses some of Ireland’s most dangerous gangland figures and violent offenders.
Among the inmates there is Aaron Brady, who is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years for the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe in 2013.
Kinahan has voiced concerns that he could be assassinated inside Portlaoise Prison, claiming any such killing might be staged to appear as though he had taken his own life.
‘If I happen to fall and bang my head when I have handcuffs on me, I didn’t fall,’ the married father of five said in voice-notes sent to podcaster James English.
‘If I end up hanging myself, killing myself, poisoning myself, it didn’t happen. I’m not suicidal,’ he said.
Daniel Kinahan (back, right) leaving the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin, where he was remanded in custody
Kinahan, 49, arrived at Casement Aerodrome at Baldonnel, on the outskirts of Dublin, on Sunday evening after more than a decade away from Ireland
The Irish government jet which carried alleged crime boss Daniel Kinahan, pictured landing in Dublin
The Irish Prison Service has been preparing a secluded area for Kinahan since his arrest in April of this year.
It has installed a gym and a library in a section of the prison which Kinahan will have sole access to.
Additional prison officers have been assigned to the de facto ‘Kinahan watch’, prison officer sources explained to the Irish Daily Mail.
The alleged kingpin will be stationed on a landing on A Block capable of accommodating eight inmates, which has been entirely cleared.
The wing has been described as a ‘prison within a prison’ and is used for some of the State’s highest-risk prisoners.
He will be a remand prisoner in the County Laois jail until he goes on trial, where he will spend approximately 20 hours per day, maybe a little more, locked into his cell.
During The Troubles, Portlaoise was known for housing terrorist inmates, mostly from the Provisional IRA, who were such a security risk the Defence Forces were assigned full-time to the prison.
But as organised crime has replaced terrorism on the Garda’s list of priorities over the last three decades, Portlaoise has been all but emptied of terrorists.
Among the fearsome prisoners still incarcerated in the facility is Warren Dumbrell, notorious for being one of Ireland’s most dangerous inmates.
In 2011, he was convicted of murdering Christopher Cawley in October 2006 at the Tyrone Place flats in Inchicore.
His brother, Jeffrey, was also convicted of killing Cawley.
‘He’s as volatile as they come and is still deemed very dangerous. There is talk that he once smashed through a window just because another inmate was antagonising him on the other side of it,’ a source told the Irish Mirror, describing Warren’s reputation inside prison.
Earlier this year, Kinahan hitman Trevor Byrne was reportedly removed from his wing and put on 23-hour lock-up for his own safety, after fears Dumbrell had planned an attack on him.
Another current inmate is ‘Red’ Larry McCarthy, the former leader of the notorious McCarthy-Dundon gang in Limerick.
He is currently serving six-and-a-half years for providing a getaway car that was used in the attempted murder of veteran Limerick criminal Christy Keane.
In 2014, he was sentenced for what Ms Justice Caroline Biggs said was the ‘procurement and placement’ of the vehicle during the course of an ‘infamous’ feud between rival gangs – the McCarthy-Dundons and the Keane-Collopys.
A general view of Portlaoise Prison in Co Laois. Picture date: Tuesday January 26, 2021
The Irish Prison Service has been preparing a secluded area for Kinahan since his arrest in April of this year
Among the fearsome prisoners still incarcerated in the facility is Warren Dumbrell, notorious for being one of Ireland’s most dangerous prisoners
Another is Aaron Brady, who is serving a life sentence with a minimum time served of 40 years for the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe in 2013
Kinahan’s incarceration is expected to involve exceptionally tight restrictions on his movements and communications
Amid an extraordinary security clampdown, Kinahan was whisked in a police convoy from Casement Aerodrome at Baldonnel, on the outskirts of Dublin, on Sunday evening directly to the three-judge court.
His appearance in court, the first time he has been in Ireland for ten years, marked an astonishing fall for a man who until recently was living the high life in the United Arab Emirates despite being wanted by law enforcement agencies in the US and Europe.
He was flown back aboard a €53million Irish government aircraft after losing his final legal battle against extradition, ending years in which Dubai had provided him with a base beyond the reach of various law enforcements.
Armed Gardaí were deployed as part of the huge security operation surrounding his arrival, amid fears that Kinahan could face threats from rival criminals once back on Irish soil.
The court, which sits without a jury, has yet to set a date for his trial and significant legal arguments are expected before proceedings can begin.
Crowds of people turned up to wait outside the building close to the city’s Phoenix Park in hopes of glimpsing him, and saw two convoys arrive separately at speed amid a security operation which involved armed Gardaí outside.
Kinahan appeared in the dock looking calm, putting on a pair of dark-rimmed glasses and taking a sip of water from a bottle after taking his seat.
He was not represented by a lawyer during the brief hearing and told the court: ‘I didn’t have time to arrange anything. I was taken in Dubai and isolated from Friday afternoon. I assumed a family member would contact a legal rep, so apologies.’
The hearing lasted just 12 minutes. Detective Sergeant Colin Davidson gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and explained to Kinahan ‘in clear language’ why he was being held.
Judge Patrick McGrath remanded him in custody to Portlaoise Prison until his next hearing on October 5.
Irish authorities allege that the organisation has operated on a vast international scale, with links stretching across Europe, the Middle East and South America, as well as being accused of involvement in drug trafficking, money laundering and a series of murders.
Kinahan was arrested in Dubai in April after an Irish extradition request.
His detention came as investigators examined alleged links between the cartel and oil shipments involving Iranian crude being transported to China.
His arrival in Ireland has been accompanied by an unprecedented security operation involving armed Garda units, military personnel and heavily protected bomb-proof vehicles.
Security sources have warned that he could face multiple threats once back in Ireland, including from rival criminals, dissident republicans, hostile state actors and powerful gangland figures seeking revenge for the deaths of their associates.
The Kinahan organisation became internationally notorious during the feud with the rival Hutch gang, which escalated after the 2016 Regency Hotel shooting in Dublin.
David Byrne, 34, was shot dead during the attack, which was carried out by gunmen disguised as members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit.
Kinahan, who was believed to be the target of the attack, had left early so was unharmed but it triggered a conflict which would go on to claim at least 18 lives.
Members of the public outside Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnell, where Daniel Kinahan landed from the UAE
Authorities in the US offered a $5million reward for information leading to Kinahan¿s capture and may seek to interview him after his Irish trial
Portlaoise has already been home to another senior Kinahan cartel figure, Sean McGovern, who was extradited from Dubai last year and sentenced to 24 years after pleading guilty to directing a criminal organisation.
McGovern’s conviction related to the murder of Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan in Dublin in 2016 and a plot to murder James ‘Mago’ Gately.
Kinahan’s incarceration is expected to involve exceptionally tight restrictions on his movements and communications.
He is likely to be segregated from other prisoners and closely monitored because of the risk that his position in the alleged cartel could allow him to exert influence from inside prison.
But his knowledge of international criminal and financial networks is also understood to be of considerable interest to American authorities.
Intelligence sources say Kinahan possesses detailed information about the export of Iranian and Russian crude using so-called shadow fleet vessels to China and India, as well as secret financial networks allegedly used by Iran to fund Hezbollah and Hamas.
American authorities are pursuing investigations into the cartel over its alleged role in facilitating terrorism through services provided to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which finances Hezbollah.
The United States sanctioned Kinahan and other senior members of the organisation in 2022, accusing the group of involvement in international drug trafficking and money laundering.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said: ‘This arrest shows our determination, along with our international policing partners including Dubai Police, to target transnational organised crime groups.
‘It also shows the value of our relationship with the authorities in the United Arab Emirates, the Ministry of Justice at judicial level, and on a police-to-police basis.
‘This relationship has been supported by the Irish Government’s Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.’
