Alleged Irish crime boss Kinahan charged with directing criminal organisation

By Padraic Halpin and Nayera Abdallah

DUBLIN, Aug 9 (Reuters) – Alleged Irish crime gang boss Daniel Kinahan was charged with directing a criminal organisation by prosecutors in Dublin on Sunday amid tight security at a special court sitting following his extradition from the United Arab Emirates.

Kinahan, who was arrested in Dubai in April, was named by the United States in ​2022 as one of three leaders of the Kinahan Organised ​Crime Group. U.S. authorities offered a $5 million reward for their arrests.

He was handed over to Irish authorities in Dubai earlier on Sunday and flown by Irish government jet to a military base on the outskirts of Dublin. He was then taken directly to the court for a highly unusual Sunday night sitting and was remanded in custody afterwards.

Kinahan, who was dressed in a black hoodie, black trousers and was wearing flip-flops, said he understood the charges and was told by one of the three judges that a bail application could only be made through the High Court.

“I think we know I won’t be getting bail, but thank you so much for explaining,” he replied. The hearing took place at Dublin’s non-jury Special Criminal Court, where cases involving terrorism and organised crime offences are heard.

Armed police guarded the entrance of the courthouse. Crowds watched and recorded on their phones as unmarked police cars sped away after the brief hearing.

Kinahan, 49, also apologised for not having a lawyer present, saying he did not have time to arrange anything while isolated in Dubai since Friday and had assumed a family member would have arranged representation.

A lawyer for Kinahan, who had lived openly in Dubai for the last 10 years and until recently had been involved in organising high-profile boxing fights, told the BBC in 2021 that allegations about him being a crime boss were false.

The U.S. likened the Kinahan drug trafficking gang to some of the world’s most notorious crime networks when it designated them as a significant transnational criminal organisation four years ago.

Irish police said at the time that the gang had gone from dealing heroin and cocaine in Dublin in the 1990s to operating across Europe.

In a joint statement on Sunday, the justice ministers of the UAE and Ireland described Kinahan as one of the most high-profile individuals sought for prosecution in connection with transnational organised crime.

Kinahan is due to appear in the court either in person or via video link next on October 5.

(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah in Dubai and Padraic Halpin in Dublin; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Alexander Smith)