Gang leader Daniel Kinahan was ‘blindsided’ by his arrest this week, believing money ‘splashed’ around the United Arab Emirates would mean he was tipped off in advance of any moves against him, the Irish Mail on Sunday has learned.
Senior sources yesterday said the crime boss-turned-boxing promoter’s ‘arrogance’ resulted in Kinahan being in ‘total shock’ when Dubai police moved in to make their dramatic arrest this week.
Kinahan, hunted by the authorities for years, was arrested on foot of a warrant issued by an Irish court in relation to directing an organised crime gang.
The 48-year-old and his father, Christy Kinahan Sr, have been living in Dubai since 2016, when they moved from the Costa del Sol in Spain following the murder of David Byrne in the infamous Regency Hotel attack that sparked a bloody gang war.
48-year-old Daniel and his father, Christy Kinahan Sr, have been living in Dubai since 2016
A senior security source said Kinahan invested ‘big money’ into UAE contacts and he believed this would lead to him being tipped off.
They told the MoS: ‘Because they had so much money splashed around the place, they thought they were important and would be tipped off. But that is totally not true, so they were blindsided.’
Kinahan was under surveillance for two days from the time the warrant was secured in Ireland, and prior to Dubai police securing their own warrant for his arrest.
TIMELINE OF BLOOD
THE KEY DEVELOPMENTS THAT LED TO DANIEL KINAHAN’S DOWNFALL
SEPTEMBER 2015: Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch’s nephew Gary is shot dead in Spain. The murder of the 34-year-old sparks the bitter Kinahan-Hutch feud that would claim 18 lives, while multiple attempts are made on the life of Gary’s father, Patsy.
DECEMBER 2015: Kinahan cartel gunmen make two unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Gerry Hutch.
Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch
FEBRUARY 2016: Daniel Kinahan narrowly escapes assassination after Hutch gunmen dressed as gardaí storm an event at the Regency Hotel in Dublin – but key lieutenant David Byrne, 33, is shot dead and two others injured. Kinahan relocates from Spain to Dubai.
The Regency Hotel attack in 2016
JULY 2018: The Garda Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) tells the High Court Daniel Kinahan controls and manages the day-to-day operations of the Kinahan drugs gang. The court accepts CAB’s findings. Kinahan does not legally challenge the gardaí.
MARCH 2022: Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh – the Kinahan gang’s leader in the UK – is jailed for 21 years for importing €36million worth of cocaine and cannabis.
APRIL 2022: At a press conference in Dublin, then US Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin announces her government will provide a $15million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Daniel Kinahan. Sanctions are also imposed against him and six of his associates, including his father Christopher Sr and brother Christopher Jr.
OCTOBER 2024: Two years after a European Arrest warrant was issued for him, Daniel Kinahan’s right-hand man Sean McGovern is arrested in Dubai. Seven months later he is extradited back to Ireland to go on trial.
Sean McGovern was lifted in March
MARCH 2026: McGovern appears before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin. He admits to his role in the murder of Noel Kirwan in Clondalkin in December 2016. He also admits putting Hutch gang member James Gateley under surveillance.
APRIL 15, 2026: Daniel Kinahan is arrested in Dubai, where he had been under surveillance, after a warrant for his arrest was issued by the High Court in Dublin.
It is expected that he will be extradited back to Ireland to stand trial.
‘They didn’t know it was coming at all,’ a source familiar with the operation said. ‘They were under surveillance for a few days prior to them [the Dubai police] getting their own warrant to arrest him. It is unbelievable, phenomenal.
‘The charge is for directing an organised crime gang and that will put him behind bars for a long time, but they may get a murder charge yet.
‘It’s probably one of the biggest criminal justice outcomes with organised and serious crime in the State’s history. It’s unprecedented. I’d say they’re in complete shock.’
Our sister paper, the Irish Daily Mail, yesterday revealed a shopping mall and Indian restaurant not far from the Burj Khalifa skyscraper served as the main hubs for surveillance on Kinahan. The government of Dubai confirmed in a statement on Friday that it had arrested an ‘Irish fugitive tied to a transnational organised crime network’.
Kinahan has been named by the High Court of Ireland as ‘a senior figure in organised crime on a global scale’, while the Criminal Assets Bureau identified him as the controller of the Kinahan cartel, which allegedly smuggles guns and drugs into Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe.
The Kinahan cartel has been locked in a murderous feud with the Hutch gang, which began in 2015, when a nephew of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, Gary Hutch, was murdered in Marbella, Spain.
The gang war claimed 18 lives over the next three years and brought daylight shootings to the streets of Dublin.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly and Detective Chief Superintendent Séamus Boland of the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau played key roles in the investigation leading to the arrest of Ireland’s most-wanted man.
The ‘instrumental’ work of the late Assistant Commissioner, John O’Driscoll, in securing the involvement of the US government – which in 2022 announced rewards of up to $5million (€4.2million) for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Kinahan family members − is ‘not forgotten’.
A senior source noted: ‘Justin, when he was the assistant commissioner in organised and serious crime, was out in Dubai at least once a month and Séamus Boland, too.
‘There was a lot of work done at senior Commissioner level and political level. And we had a detective superintendent out there as well, a Garda liaison, for this specific purpose.
‘Sadly, John [O’Driscoll] died shortly after he retired and didn’t get to see this day.
‘A lot of work went into securing this, and the result is phenomenal.’
In an interview with the MoS last month, Det Chief Supt Boland said Kinahan lieutenant Seán McGovern’s surprise guilty plea sent a strong message to cartel leaders that ‘there’s nowhere to hide’.
In his first comments since the senior gangland figure pleaded guilty to directing a criminal gang in relation to the murder of one man and the surveillance of another, Mr Boland said: ‘You don’t enter a guilty plea unless you absolutely have no way out.’
The senior detective said the war in Iran has also led to a ‘change in dynamics’ in the Middle East, which heaped further pressure on Daniel Kinahan, his father Christy Sr and brother, Christy Jr.
In a statement issued on Friday, An Garda Síochána said it is ‘aware of the arrest of an Irish national in the United Arab Emirates’. It said the arrest was in accordance with a bilateral agreement on extradition between Ireland and the United Arab Emirates.
‘The arrest of the Irish national in Dubai remains a matter for the authorities in the United Arab Emirates at this time,’ it continued.
‘Today’s arrest is another extremely important demonstration of the need for international law enforcement co-operation in tackling transnational organised crime.’
The government of Dubai confirmed it had, in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Interior, ‘arrested an Irish fugitive for his alleged role in an international organised crime network’.
The US’s Drug Enforcement Agency’s wanted poster advertised a reward of $5m for information that would lead to the arrest of the Dublin gangland figure
‘The arrest comes as part of efforts to combat cross-border crime’ and ‘followed the receipt of a judicial file from Irish authorities detailing the suspect’s alleged crimes, and his involvement in an international criminal organisation.
Daniel Kinahan, far right, entertaining acquaintances in the bay area of Dubai
‘Based on the file, Dubai Public Prosecution issued an arrest warrant to initiate legal procedures ahead of his extradition.
‘Specialised teams immediately launched intensive search and surveillance operations, leading to the suspect’s capture within 48 hours of the warrant being issued.
‘Dubai police confirmed that the arrest took place on April 15, reflecting the force’s rapid response and operational readiness in handling international cases.’
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said he welcomed the arrest, which ‘follows my request to the UAE for extradition of this individual to face charges in Ireland’.
He added: ‘I would like to commend all involved… it’s the result of tireless work by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, officials in the Department of Justice with their UAE counterparts, the Department of Foreign Affairs and other agencies.’
Kinahan is currently being held at the Al Awir Central Prison, which is renowned for violent attacks and substandard conditions, and where prisoners reportedly have to fight for bunk beds in overcrowded cells.