DUBAI, Aug 9 (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates has handed over alleged Irish crime gang boss Daniel Kinahan to Irish authorities, the UAE state news agency (WAM) reported on Sunday, citing a joint statement.
Kinahan, who was arrested in Dubai in April, was named by the United States in 2022 as one of three leaders of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group. U.S. authorities offered a $5 million reward for their arrests.
Reuters could not immediately reach representatives for Kinahan on Sunday. A lawyer for Kinahan told the BBC in 2021 that he has no criminal record or convictions and allegations about being a crime boss were false.
The UAE decision was issued after a Dubai court ruling and was based on an extradition agreement between the UAE and Ireland.
“Kinahan is considered one of the most wanted individuals in cases related to transnational organised crime,” WAM quoted the joint Emirati-Irish statement as saying.
“He has been accused of leading an organised criminal group, murder and illicit trafficking of narcotics, pursuant to an official request submitted by the Irish authorities,” it added.
Irish police had no immediate comment on Sunday.
Kinahan, who has lived openly in Dubai for 10 years, will be arrested on arrival in Ireland, following years of investigations by the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, the Irish Times reported.
He is expected to face a charge of directing organised crime when he appears before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin on Sunday night, the newspaper added.
An Irish government jet landed in Dubai on Saturday and departed for Ireland at 0920 GMT on Sunday, flight tracking data showed.
(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah in Dubai and Padraic Halpin in Dublin; editing by Philippa Fletcher and Alexander Smith)
