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Who is Kinahan ally Sean McGovern and why is his arrest in Dubai so important?

First arrest of senior cartel figure in Dubai raises question about whether Christy Kinahan and his sons, Daniel and Christopher jnr, will be next

Dubai arrest
McGovern’s arrest in the early hours of Thursday morning was on foot of an Interpol red notice. Illustration: Irish Times Premedia
Conor Lally's picture
Conor Lally
Thu Oct 10 2024 - 18:42

The arrest of Sean McGovern in Dubai on Thursday morning is perhaps the most significant development in the policing of organised crime since the Kinahan ambush by members of the Hutch gang at the Regency Hotel, Dublin, exposed the Garda’s glaring failures in 2016.

Though the Garda was embarrassed after being caught asleep at the wheel eight years ago, the onslaught against the Kinahan cartel since then has been like nothing Irish organised crime has ever seen.

The cartel’s Irish operation – which reigned supreme over the domestic drugs trade for the best part of two decades – is now crushed. Many of its middle management figures, and the gunmen and minor players also in their pay, languish in Irish prisons for Kinahan-Hutch crimes. Around 70 men linked to the cartel in Ireland have been jailed.

The cartel’s leaders in Britain and Ireland – Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh and Liam Byrne – are in prison in the UK awaiting sentence for a firearms conspiracy later this month. Kavanagh is already serving 21 years for smuggling the Kinahans’ drugs into Britain.

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But the big fish at the very top of the cartel had, until now, remained out of reach. Cartel founder Christy Kinahan, and his two sons Daniel and Christopher jnr, continue to live openly in Dubai, which remains their headquarters.

Until Thursday morning, Sean McGovern was living the high life alongside them in the Emirate. This is despite it emerging in early 2022 that the DPP had directed McGovern stand trial on charges for the 2016 Kinahan-Hutch feud murder of Noel Kirwan (62) in Clondalkin, Co Dublin, and for directing organised crime. Mr Kirwan, who had no involvement in crime, was shot because he was associated with members of the Hutch family.

McGovern was among seven men – including the three Kinahans – to be sanctioned by the United States in April, 2022. Most significantly, he is the first criminal at the apex of the cartel to be arrested by Dubai Police. The authorities in UAE have always proven very reluctant to arrest westerners for extradition to their countries of origin, though that appears now to be changing.

If, as expected, McGovern is returned to Ireland, the Government and Garda will be very hopeful the three Kinahans are next. But, first, there are significant hurdles to clear. The DPP – or a similar office in another country – must approve charges against them.

Suspects can only be extradited to a country where they are wanted to immediately appear in court to face serious charges. Extradition cannot be used to return a suspect to a country for questioning, or for any reason other than to answer criminal charges already approved. In other words, if there is not a trial process ready to go, extradition simply does not arise.

The Irish Times reported last year that a large Garda investigation into the Kinahans – including Daniel Kinahan’s directing of organised crime – had been concluded and a file sent to the DPP. A decision on charges, or not, against the Kinahans – depending on the weight of the evidence – is still awaited.

[ Gardaí frustrated at UAE over failed bid to extradite Kinahan ally McGovern ]

McGovern (38), is a career criminal from Drimnagh, Dublin who was wounded in the Hutch attack at the Regency Hotel, where he was present with Daniel Kinahan, the target on the day. McGovern was shot in the stomach – his friend David Byrne was fatally wounded – but recovered. When discharged from hospital, he refused to co-operate with the Garda investigation into those who shot him.

In the years after the Regency attack, he grew closer to Daniel Kinahan, who invited him to effectively join the cartel’s leadership based in Dubai, resulting in his moving there with his partner and their children.

Before he went, McGovern was among a large group of people targeted in a Criminal Assets Bureau action against the Liam Byrne-led Byrne organised crime group.

McGovern’s house on Kildare Road, Crumlin, the group’s stronghold, was seized as part of that action in 2020. Some €150,000 for the purchase of that property was routed through electronic fund transfer from an Investec Bank in Mauritius, care of a trust company. A further €247,000 was spent on renovations.

McGovern has been described by the US Department of the Treasury as “Daniel Kinahan’s adviser and closest confidant”. It said “evidence indicates that all dealings with Daniel Kinahan go through Sean McGovern”. McGovern “managed communications on behalf of Daniel Kinahan, and he sells multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine”.

McGovern’s arrest in the early hours of Thursday morning was on foot of an Interpol red notice – a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person. That request arose from the DPP deciding he should be charged with the Noel Kirwan murder, and the Dublin High Court rubber-stamping efforts to extradite him.

News the DPP had directed he face those charges emerged in April 2022, at the same time the US announced financial and travel sanctions on the seven men at the top of the Kinahan cartel. Rewards of up to $5 million were also offered for information that would result in the conviction of the Kinahans.

With McGovern now arrested in Dubai, the next step will be to secure his return to Ireland to go on trial. His arrest followed years of diplomatic work with the UAE by senior Garda officers, including former assistant commissioner John O’Driscoll, who died suddenly recently, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and by Government. Those efforts have now persuaded the UAE to come in from the cold and arrest key cartel figures if countries such as Ireland have approved criminal charges against them.