Authorities have frozen around £168million of assets linked to the Kinahan drug cartel while its leader awaits extradition to Ireland.
Daniel Kinahan, 48, and his father Christy, 69, known as the ‘Dapper Don’, have been living in Dubai since 2016.
They moved to the UAE from Spain’s Costa Del Sol following the murder of another Irish criminal, David Byrne, which sparked a bloody gang war.
The Kinahan cartel has controlled much of the cocaine brought into Europe over the past decade, and has also been linked to global arms smuggling and money laundering operations.
Earlier this month, Daniel was arrested on the Palm Jumeirah - Dubai’s man-made island - where he and his wife Caoimhe, 44, own a seven-bedroom property.
He is being held in the Al Awir prison, known as the 'Desert Alcatraz' because of its extreme cold, overcrowding and violence, on charges relating to organised crime.
Meanwhile, police in Dubai have identified dozens of individuals involved in laundering the cartel’s wealth.
Daniel Kinahan is being held in the Al Awir prison, known as the 'Desert Alcatraz' because of its extreme cold, overcrowding and violence, on charges relating to organised crime
Daniel Kinahan, far right, entertaining acquaintances in the bay area of Dubai
The Kinahans have a range of investments there, from property to shipping, entertainment, cryptocurrency and sports management.
However, the UAE has clamped down on the cartel following reports that it was involved with Iranian intelligence services.
Oil tankers linked to one of Daniel’s close friends Mounir Lazzez, an MMA fighter known as the Sniper, have been sanctioned for their links to Tehran.
Writing on LinkedIn last week, Hamid Alzaabi, secretary-general of the UAE’s anti-money laundering committee, said: ‘Extensive financial intelligence has been shared, networks disrupted, and assets frozen in connection with the Kinahan Organised Crime Group. There is no safe haven for criminals in the UAE.’
Intelligence reports suggest the leaders are now struggling with cash flow problems. The gangsters are also having trouble accessing UAE banking services, according to The Sunday Times.
It is unclear where Christy Kinahan, the patriarch of the family cartel, is staying
However, they still possess an estimated fortune of £1.2billion. And the bulk of the cartel’s capital, thought to exceed £850million, is believed to be sheltered in investment firms, trust funds and offshore accounts across the US, Asia, Africa and potentially Hong Kong.
The US has had sanctions on the Kinahans since 2022, with the State Department offering rewards of up to $5million (£3.7million) for information leading to their arrests.
Key members of the cartel, including Daniel’s brother Christopher Jr, Ian Dixon and Bernard Clancy, continue to live lavishly with their wives and children in Dubai.
However, it is unclear where patriarch Christy is staying.
Europe’s intelligence services believe the group has already drafted contingency plans to relocate, possibly to Indonesia, a jurisdiction notorious for its weak extradition laws and complex legal bureaucracy, The Sunday Times reported.
When Daniel is eventually flown back to Ireland, he will stand trial at Dublin’s Special Criminal Court.
The prosecution’s evidence is a vast trove of data recovered from encrypted ‘ghost devices’, stripped of microphones, cameras and GPS tracking capabilities - the cartel’s preferred tools for orchestrating murders and attempted assassinations.
These plots include the targeting of Gerry ‘the Monk’ Hutch, a rival gang leader, in the Canary Islands in 2015 and the failed hit on his associate, James ‘Mago’ Gately, by Imre Arakas, an Estonian contract killer in 2017.