Daniel Kinahan is likely to flee Dubai with his father Christy and brother Christopher, investigators believe

Kinahans "will try to flee Dubai" after Ireland agrees extradition treaty with UAE

“There is no doubt this is a major blow to the Kinahans, but they have the wherewithal to get out of Dubai and they will probably try,” a source told the Irish Mirror

19 Oct 2024, 04:00 by Michael O'Toole · Irish Mirror

Kinahan cartel bosses will now try to flee their desert bolthole – after Ireland agreed an extradition treaty with the United Arab Emirates, investigators fear.

“They would be fools to stay,” a source told the Irish Mirror.

“There is no doubt this is a major blow to the Kinahans, but they have the wherewithal to get out of Dubai and they will probably try.”

Dapper Don Christy Kinahan, 67, and his sons Daniel, 47, and Christopher, 43, had been safe in Dubai for more than seven years – but Friday’s bombshell announcement of the extradition treaty by Justice Minister Helen McEntee means that they could be sent back to Ireland to face trial.

The US government is offering a reward of up to five million dollars for information the three Kinahan leaders, who are in now Dubai - which has agreed an extradition treaty with Ireland

Gardaí are working on charging all three with serious crimes – and now that Ireland has agreed an extradition treaty with the desert state, a major obstacle to them being brought to justice has been cleared.

All that remains now is for the Director of Public Prosecutions to decide that there is enough evidence for the trio to stand trial – and give Gardaí permission to charge them. Once that happens, Ireland can request their extradition - which is likely to be a formality under the new deal. And that, sources say, means it is simply too risky for the Kinahans to stay in Dubai.

“They are really depending on the DPP deciding not to charge them, and the Kinahans are far too smart to rely on that happening,” a source said. “There are several places they could get on a plane to. The odds are they will.” Sources said possible destinations included Russia, Iran – or countries like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in central Asia.

News of the extradition treaty - which will be live in a matter of weeks – came days after Dubai authorities arrested key Kinahan associate Sean McGovern, 38, following a request by Gardaí.

Although there is no current treaty, Dubai agreed to arrest him and are now planning to send him back to Ireland to stand trial for murder and organised crime offences. But an extradition treaty will make the process smoother – and Justice Minister McEntee warned Irish gangsters in Dubai that their days were numbered.

“This will apply to any criminal who is in the UAE,” she said.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee has promised to hunt down Irish criminals in the UAE(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)

“There are quite a number of senior members of particular organised crime groups in the UAE. They have moved there to evade this type of treaty and engagement with other European countries. What I am saying very clearly today is no matter where you go, we will follow you.

“What we are doing here is tightening the net, and there are many countries including in the EU, the UK, America, Australia and beyond where we have these types of agreements in place. The more agreements we reach, the tighter the net is.”

And when challenged if announcing the deal would tip off the Kinahans and allow them to leave Dubai, Ms McEntee said: “My message is very clear: If you are trying to evade the law we will do everything in our power, working closely with An Garda Siochana and our counterparts right across the globe to continue to tighten that net, to make sure that you do not evade justice and that you are brought home to Ireland to face justice for the crimes you have committed here.”

And she added: "Many organised crime gangs think that they can evade justice by crossing borders. They cannot and they will not."

Sean McGovern, a key Kinahan associate who is in custody in Dubai ahead of a planned extradition to Ireland,(Image: Mick O'Neill)

Under the treaty, Ireland can seek the extradition of a person from the UAE for any crime punishable by a sentence of a year or more. This includes crimes such as murder and attempted murder. Irish citizens will not be allowed to be extradited to the UAE nor will UAE citizens be extradited to Ireland.

Ms McEntee said that there are grounds for refusal of an extradition request, which include punishing a person based on their race, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, language, political opinion, sex or status. The deal also involves a mutual legal assistance treaty that will allow Gardaí to seek assistance from the UAE for criminal investigations, prosecutions and other proceedings. It will not apply to anyone currently detained in prison, Ms McEntee said.

Asked whether the main purpose of the extradition treaty was to target the Kinahans, Ms McEntee said: "The overall objective is to make sure that irrespective of who you are, that criminals know that they cannot evade justice.

Christy Kinahan

"Obviously the Kinahan family and organisation have been based there for a number of years. Without getting into specifics, this will allow An Garda Síochána, following a request from the DPP for charges to be brought, to go to the courts, to seek a warrant, to then bring that to the UAE authorities and hopefully get extraditions."

She added that in recent years, organised criminal gangs have moved to the UAE to evade extradition treaties in European countries.

"No matter where you go, we will follow you. We will work with our counterparts in those countries, and we will make sure that you cannot evade justice for the crimes that you are responsible for.” She added: "I'm confident that this treaty, both treaties, will prove very useful in making sure that senior figures in organised crime groups will be brought home and will face justice."

The Irish government approved the bilateral treaty agreement at an incorporeal Cabinet meeting on Friday morning. It will be brought before the Dail chamber for approval next week.

More than a dozen Irish gangsters are living in Dubai - and are now at risk form the extradition plan(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Ms McEntee said she would sign the treaty in the UAE in the coming days and that it would come into effect within weeks. Negotiations with the UAE on bilateral treaties began last year.

Tánaiste Micheal Martin said that it was "an important milestone" and "a significant development". "I don't want to get into any specific, particular applications of the treaty. It's a broad treaty that I think is an important milestone," he said in Cork. "I do welcome it, and it's something that a lot of work has gone in to, both from the department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Justice."

Christopher Kinahan Jnr.

Dublin MEP Barry Andrews said that an extradition treaty with the UAE was "good news for Dublin and for Ireland".

"It has become blatantly obvious that those who are most responsible for much of the crime and violence that we see on our streets in Dublin are using Dubai as a hideout," he said.

"Thankfully, with the treaty now set to be agreed, the net surrounding these criminals will begin to tighten. I know from speaking to constituents that crime and public safety has become one of the main issues for people."

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