Daniel Kinahan has failed in his final appeal against his extradition from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Ireland.
Kinahan (49), a leader of the Kinahan cartel, has been in custody in Dubai since April.
He was arrested as part of a joint operation between the Garda and authorities in UAE on foot of an extradition request from the Irish authorities and will face charges in Ireland.
It was previously thought the process to secure his extradition could run until the end of the year.
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The process was faster than expected and Kinahan lodged his final appeal earlier this month.
Sources in Ireland with knowledge of the extradition process have confirmed reports from the UAE that Kinahan’s final appeal was unsuccessful.
Final approval for Kinahan’s extradition must now be granted by the UAE’s minister for justice, Abdullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, who is expected to sign off on the court’s decision.
Kinahan’s return is expected within the next few months.
The departments of Justice and Foreign Affairs, as well as the Air Corps, the Garda and Defence Forces, are co-operating to prepare a major security operation.
He will be brought back to Ireland on an Air Corps C295 aircraft which will land in Casement Aerodrome.
Kinahan will likely be brought straight to the Special Criminal Court to be charged with directing the activities of an organised crime group.
He is expected to be transported in a new armoured, prisoner transport vehicle equipped with ballistic protection which was purchased by the Irish Prison Service (IPS) in advance of the then-likely extradition.
The prison service declined to comment on the matter as it impacts operational matters.
It has beefed up its security for high-profile prisoner transports. Earlier this year it awarded a new two-year tender for the supply of 71 custodial vehicles worth up to €10 million.
Kinahan was arrested in Dubai in April, having lived openly there for almost a decade. He allegedly directed the Kinahan cartel from there, as well as allegedly co-directing the European “super cartel”. The “super cartel” is an international mafia coalition, whose leaders have been based in Dubai, that is estimated to control about a third of the European cocaine market.
His arrest followed a sustained pressure campaign by Irish and US authorities to dismantle the Kinahan gang and bring its leaders to justice. This included a $15 million reward offered by the US for information on the gang’s leaders and wide ranging sanctions targeting the group.
Ireland has also been building up diplomatic and police relations with the UAE which resulted in a formal extradition treaty being signed last year.
Responding to queries, An Garda Síochána declined to confirm the reports and directed “any questions on the arrest and detention” to UAE authorities.
A Garda spokesman reiterated a previous statement that the force was aware of the “arrest and ongoing detention of an Irish National in the United Arab Emirates on foot of an arrest warrant issued by the Irish Courts on alleged Serious Organised Crime offences”.
The Department of Justice declined to comment.
The Garda’s first major success in targeting the Kinahan gang’s leadership came last month when Sean McGovern was jailed for 24 years for directing the group’s crimes in Dublin almost a decade ago at the height of the Kinahan-Hutch feud, which claimed about 20 lives.
McGovern was also based in Dubai and was arrested there in October 2024, becoming the first Kinahan cartel member to be detained there and the first to be extradited to Ireland. An Air Corps plane was used when he was extradited last year.
The Director of Public Prosecutions has instructed that Kinahan be charged with directing organised crime. His trial will take place before the non-jury Special Criminal Court at some point next year.
Kinahan is expected to be held at the State’s maximum security facility in Portlaoise following his extradition. A Block is the highest-security wing of the prison and is often used for those set to appear before the Special Criminal Court.
This falls in line with the existing practice in the service, whereby Kinahan gang members are typically imprisoned in Mountjoy Prison, with Hutch members placed in Wheatfield Prison.
The highest-risk gang leaders are then separated and placed in Portlaoise.
