Drew Harris meeting police in Dubai to discuss return of Kinahan leaders to face justice

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris. 

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is holding a meeting with police in Dubai to discuss the possibility of bringing the leaders of the Kinahan cartel back to Ireland to face justice.

The high-level Garda delegation also includes Assistant Commissioner (AC) Justin Kelly, head of Organised and Serious Crime, which is leading the hunt for the cartel leadership.

It is thought to be the first time either commissioner has formally visited Dubai and marks a significant development in the investigation against the cartel.

The leaders of the network, Christopher Kinahan and his sons Daniel and Christopher junior, are still believed to be based in the United Arab Emirates.

It emerged last month that gardaí have sent a file to the DPP recommending that the operational leader of the cartel, Daniel Kinahan, be charged with directing a criminal organisation.

The garda file also examined the evidence against the other leaders, but it is not clear it if recommends any charges against them.

But senior gardaí have repeatedly stressed that their investigation will not end until everyone in the cartel structure is brought to justice.

Officially, the visit is being described as means of “building relationships towards achieving common goals” in relation to transnational organised crime.

Central to the garda visit is discussing legal means of getting the three men deported from the country to Ireland to face justice, in particular Daniel Kinahan.

The delegation to Dubai follows a top-level meeting in Dublin between AC Kelly and the chiefs of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau with officers from the US Drug Enforcement Agency, in relation to the joint US-Irish investigation into the cartel leadership.

The organisation behind the meeting has been arranged from the Irish embassy in Dubai and the Garda liaison officer who was only recently appointed there.

Ireland does not have an extradition agreement with the UAE so it is not clear what legal route can be used.

However, the UAE has agreed to deport gang bosses to the Netherlands and Italy in recent years as part of an agreement with the home authorities or Interpol.

If Dubai authorities identify any criminal offences on behalf of the cartel leaders, such as possessing fraudulent residential documentation or financial criminality, that could provide a possible basis.

The three leaders were hit with a combined $15 million bounty by US authorities in April 2022 and their financial activity was curtailed and travel bans imposed.

Commissioner Harris has previously indicated that the US might present the most likely place for the leaders to be deported to and tried.

But the latest development suggests the possibility that the men could be sent back to Ireland.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin commended the Garda Commissioner for the guard's “very painstaking work” in terms of “closing the net on the Kinahan criminal enterprise”.

Speaking to reporters in Jerusalem on the first day of his Middle East trip, Mr Martin said he “salutes [Mr Harris'] productivity” travelling to Dubai.

He said the gardaí had “done well” in working against gangland crime more generally. He added the Minister for Justice will be kept updated on the progress of the talks.

“We have to be persistent, and we have to work on a consistent basis against organised crime,” he said.

In a statement, gardaí confirmed to the Irish Examiner that Commissioner Harris and AC Kelly are in Dubai "for a series of meetings as part of ongoing co-operation between An Garda Síochána and international policing partners to tackle transnational organised crime".

"Transnational organised crime gangs not only cause death and misery in the countries they originate from, but also in communities across the globe. Tackling these gangs protects people here in Ireland and abroad.

"As part of these efforts, Commissioner Harris and senior Garda officers regularly liaise and work with international law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle these gangs.

"This includes the on-going multi-national operation devised by An Garda Síochána to tackle the Kinahan transnational organised crime gang.

"It has also seen Commissioner Harris travel to the US, Colombia and Europe to further this activity."