KINAHAN cartel leader Sean McGovern is due in court today for a sentence hearing.
And his partner has ditched her luxury lifestyle in Dubai to return to Ireland.
Anita Freeman — who has been making flying visits to Ireland since 2017 — is back living in the capital ahead of McGovern’s appearance at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.
McGovern, 40, is set to be sentenced after he pleaded guilty to directing the activities of an organised crime gang in the murder of Noel Kirwan, 62, in December 2016, and the plot to kill James ‘Mago’ Gately, 39, in April 2017.
The scheme to kill Gately failed after the arrest of Estonian hitman Imre Arakas, 68, and McGovern took sanctuary in the UAE.
Anita, 37, soon joined him and they had been leading a lavish life until he was arrested on Interpol Red Notice in October 2024.
During her time in Dubai, Freeman also forged a close friendship with Daniel Kinahan’s wife Caoimhe Robinson, 42.
But their lives were shattered when McGovern was extradited and Kinahan was sensationally arrested ten days ago.
Freeman — who has no involvement in crime and has been with McGovern since he was a teenager — has been spotted at social events in Crumlin, south Dublin, in recent weeks.
She made frequent trips back to Ireland when a European Arrest Warrant was issued against her partner in April 2022.
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Freeman is now staying elsewhere in the capital after the home she once shared with McGovern was seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
One local source told us: “Anita is keeping a low profile on social media these days but she’s often seen at social gatherings.
“She has remained loyal to Sean over the years and is understood to be here on a permanent basis.
“She has often made frequent trips back to Ireland but the situation for her has now changed after Sean’s guilty pleas.
“Anita used to have a large circle of friends — but that looks to have changed because of her move to Dubai.”
Our revelations on Freeman’s return visits come after the arrest of Daniel Kinahan, 48, in the UAE on April 17.
Kinahan remains in Dubai’s Central Jail as the process to extradite him to Ireland continues.
Daniel — named in Spanish investigation files as the “overall leader” of the Kinahan cartel — is wanted in Ireland after he was accused of directing the activities of an organised crime gang between 2015 and 2017.
During that time, the cartel were involved in murders, attempted murders, drug trafficking, firearms offences and money laundering.
One of the incidents is believed to be the attempt to kill Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch in Lanzarote on New Year’s Eve, 2015.
Part of the allegations against Kinahan include encrypted messages that were seized by Blackberry phones and later accessed in 2023 by Dutch crime experts.
Following his arrest, Det Chief Supt Seamus Boland told The Irish Sun: “We will continue to increase our international outreach to pursue high value targets that are impacting on this jurisdiction.
“Individuals involved in serious crime who leave Ireland and live in other jurisdictions aren’t going to escape the reach of law enforcement. We have had nothing but a positive experience with our colleagues in the UAE.
“They’ve proved to us if the evidence is there and we satisfy their own judicial processes, there is nobody who is safe in the UAE.”
Det Chief Supt Boland also paid tribute to former Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll for the role he played in combating the Kinahan cartel before he passed away in October 2024.
He added: “When the arrest was made last week, we thought of people like John O’Driscoll.
“John was a very close friend and confidant of mine. He was an incredible public servant who dedicated his whole life to tackling serious and organised crime.
“He recognised from a very early stage the outrageous damage that was being caused to society by organised crime and, in particular, vulnerable communities. John is a role model and we continue to miss him greatly.”
Mr O’Driscoll’s brother Donal, 62, who served in the Garda organisation for 38 years before his retirement in 2021, told how his family were “extremely proud” of his sibling’s commitment to dismantling the Kinahan gang.
Donal said: “John was a key architect in developing the strategy to target transnational criminal organisations such as the Kinahan organised crime group.
“He helped forge links with the US, the UAE, the UK and Europe and we are extremely proud of his public service.
“John would also be extremely proud of how gardai from Special Crime Operations are performing.
“Teamwork was very important to him and he worked with an exceptional group of people like Assistant Commissioner Angela Willis, Det Chief Supt Seamus Boland and Det Supt Dave Gallagher over the years.
“The arrest of Daniel Kinahan is a significant step in the fight against organised crime and John would have been very proud of everyone involved in the ongoing investigations.
“The family are extremely grateful for the kind comments and sentiments expressed about John over recent days by members of the public, by his former colleagues and in the media.”