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Why Republic-UAE extradition deal does not necessarily mean end for the Kinahans

Experiences endured by Dutch and South African authorities provide cautionary tales when dealing with UAE

Wanted poster for Christopher Kinahan jnr, Daniel Kinahan and Christy Kinahan snr. Photograph: Collins
Wanted poster for Christopher Kinahan jnr, Daniel Kinahan and Christy Kinahan snr. Photograph: Collins
Conor Lally's picture
Conor Lally
Mon Oct 21 2024 - 20:59

The timing of Minister for Justice Helen McEntee’s dash to Abu Dhabi was perfect for her, and her Fine Gael party, on the eve of a general election. In the 20-year fight against the Kinahan cartel, McEntee’s signing of an extradition agreement between UAE and the Republic on Monday was an important juncture.

The good news narrative goes something like this: now that Kinahan cartel figure Sean McGovern is locked up in Dubai, the new extradition treaty can be used to get him back to the Republic to face the charges waiting for him here. And after he has been put through that process, the Kinahans will be next.

However, recent experiences endured by the Dutch and South African authorities provide a cautionary tale when dealing with the UAE.

McGovern, one of seven leading figures in the Kinahan cartel sanctioned by the US authorities in 2022, is the first Kinahan cartel member ever to be arrested in Dubai — a significant milestone in itself.

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In Dublin, the group that ran the cartel’s Irish operation — the Crumlin-headquartered Byrne crime group — has effectively been dismantled. About 70 men linked to it were jailed as part of the Garda investigations into the Kinahan-Hutch feud. Liam Byrne (43), who led the gang, is being sentenced this week in London for his role in a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice through procuring and staging the discovery of guns.

His brother-in-law, and the man who ran the Kinahans’ UK business, Thomas Bomber Kavanagh, is also being sentenced this week for the same conspiracy. Kavanagh (57) was jailed last year for 21 years for importing the Kinahans’ drugs into Britain.

But the key targets, Christopher Kinahan snr and his sons Daniel Kinahan and Christopher Kinahan jnr, remain at liberty in Dubai and nothing in the criminal justice system, either domestic or international, is ever straightforward.

In July of last year, the Netherlands and UAE signed two treaties facilitating extradition and mutual legal assistance. A key target at the time for the Dutch was Bosnian-Dutch drug smuggler Edin Gačanin, a significant drug dealing partner of Daniel Kinahan’s.

However, though he was arrested in Dubai in 2022, and sentenced in his absence to seven years by a Rotterdam court, his extradition to the Netherlands never took place. He was released from custody in Dubai in January.

The South African authorities can tell the same story. They have had an extradition treaty with UAE for over three years but when they tried to extradite Atul and Rajesh Gupta, two brothers linked to fraud and corruption, those efforts came to nothing.The UAE cited shortcomings in legal documents and the brothers have been since spotted in Switzerland.

Garda sources acknowledge the process of extraditing McGovern may become protracted and could be unpredictable if he fights the process, as expected. He faces charges relating to the Kinahan-Hutch feud murder of Noel Kirwan (62) in Dublin in 2016 and directing organised crime. But even if he is brought back to this jurisdiction , the prospect of the Kinahans being next is, for now, more aspirational than certain.

A file sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions last year, which gardaí are hopeful will result in at least Daniel Kinahan being charged with directing organised crime, has yet to be decided on. In the absence of any charges awaiting them in the Republic, an extradition process cannot even commence against the Kinahans. With their money and contacts, they may be out of reach again — perhaps in Russia — by the time charges against them are decided upon.