The Government is to agree an extradition and mutual legal assistance treaties with the United Arab Emirates which will facilitate the return to Ireland for trial of senior members of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group.
The leaders of the transnational drug dealing gang are based in Dubai, one of them, Sean McGovern is currently in custody facing extradition to face a murder charge in Ireland.
The treaties are expected to be signed by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee in Abu Dhabi next week following negotiations with her Emirati counterpart.
Dubai in the United Arab Emirates has long been seen as a place of safety for wanted criminals and international drug traffickers.
The leaders of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group, Christy Sr, Daniel and Christopher Jr fled there from the Costa del Sol in 2016 to avoid potential extradition to Ireland when the Spanish authorities began working closely with gardaí investigating the Hutch-Kinahan feud murders.
Other senior Kinahan gang members including Ian Dixon, John Morrissey, Bernard Clancy and Sean McGovern also based themselves in Dubai.
All seven were subsequently sanctioned by the US authorities and a $5m reward was offered for information leading to the conviction of each of the three Kinahans.
The transnational organised crime group was dealt a major blow by law enforcement last Thursday, when Sean McGovern, Daniel Kinahan’s right-hand man, was arrested on foot of an Interpol red notice.
The 38-year-old from Drimnagh in Dublin who is wanted in Ireland for murder and directing the activities of a criminal gang is in custody in Dubai facing extradition.
The Government will approve Ms McEntee to sign bilateral treaties with the United Arab Emirates on extradition and mutual assistance which will be discussed at an incorporeal Cabinet meeting this morning.
The Department of Justice said it follows a year of negotiations and intensive engagements between the minister and her counterpart the Emirati Minister of Justice, His Excellency Abdullah Bin Sultan Bin Awad Al Nuaimi.
The Government said these two agreements will further improve the effectiveness of co-operation between Ireland and the UAE in fighting crime and facilitating extradition.
It also said it is taking “all necessary steps to dismantle organised crime, and the agreement of these bilateral treaties will be of significant support in tackling organised crime and transnational drug trafficking gangs”.
The process of developing international partnerships was developed by the late Assistant Garda Commissioner John O’ Driscoll and the United Arab Emirates is the latest country, along with the US, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand to work with gardaí in tackling the Kinahan gang.
Gardaí said they are continuing to target the activities and leadership of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group and a substantial file in relation to Daniel Kinahan has been submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
If the DPP decides there is sufficient evidence to prefer serious charges against the leader of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group, these new extradition arrangements will make it far easier for the state to have him extradited to face trial in Ireland.
Gardaí said there are also a significant number of other Irish criminals based in Dubai including a Donegal drug trafficker who has been targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau who seized his home and other assets.
