Cormac O'Keeffe: Kinahan on the ropes, fearing a knockout blow

Daniel Kinahan has suffered repeated body blows in the last two weeks

The decision by US authorities to go after the Kinahan cartel has put pressure on Daniel Kinahan. File picture: Collins Dublin

Daniel Kinahan is on the ropes.

He has suffered repeated body blows in the last two weeks, culminating in a wicked right hook on Tuesday.

Maybe he’ll recover his strength, but surely he must fear a knockout blow.

At the end of March he saw the Number 2 in the Kinahan cartel, Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh, getting a 21-year sentence in Britain.

Kavanagh was head of the British branch of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group (KOCG), responsible for a multi-million drug trafficking, money laundering, and firearms importation network in the UK.

Two of his lieutenants also got heavy sentences following an investigation by the British National Crime Agency (NCA), assisted by An Garda Síochána.

Last week, the High Court granted CAB an order to seize a luxury house given to Daniel Kinahan as part-payment for €4.5m cash he gave businessman Jim Mansfield to invest in property.

Then came moves by US agencies explicitly targeting his finances and that of his father Christopher Snr and his brother Christopher Jnr along with four of their most senior associates.

Major success

The decision by US authorities to go after the Kinahan cartel will go down as a major success for An Garda Síochána, not least the head of Serious and Organised Crime, Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll.

For years he has had to keep his lips sealed despite intense questioning, and criticism, of the Garda record against both the Kinahan cartel and the Hutch military-style attack on the Regency Hotel in February 2016.

On Tuesday, Commissioner Drew Harris commended his diligence and patience, noting that the assistant commissioner had told him of his plans to target the international revenue stream of the cartel when he took over in September 2018.

Agencies from the three countries involved in the operation targeting the KOCG gathered in the stunning surroundings of Dublin’s City Hall on Tuesday to announce the outcome of their investigation, spanning over three years.

Leading the US delegation was US Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin. Joining her were the Office of Foreign Assets Control's (OFAC) Gregory Gatjanis, US Treasury chief Troy Miller, and head of special operations in the Drug Enforcement Agency, Wendy Woolcock.

Also at the event was deputy director of investigations in the NCA, Matt Horne, and Jari Liukku of the EU police co-operation agency Europol.

They illustrated just how serious a player the KOCG is in organised crime and the threat it poses across Europe and globally.

Mr Gatjanis, OFAC assistant director, said the cartel had started on the streets of Dublin two decades ago but now has “tentacles” stretching around the world.

As of today, the Kinahan transnational criminal organisation joins the ranks of Italy’s Camorra, Mexico's Los Zetas, Japan’s Yakuza, and Russia’s 'Thieves in Law'.” 

Ambassador Cronin said countering transnational organised crime was “an urgent priority” for US president Joe Biden and the US government and that Tuesday’s event was revealing the actions the three countries were undertaking “to counter the Kinahan transnational criminal organisation”.

This group, she said, was behind “heinous crimes” as well as the wholesale trafficking in narcotics and firearms.

“The US Department of State is pleased to announce a reward of up to $5m for information leading to the financial disruption of the KOCG or arrest or convictions of its leaders — Christopher Vincent Kinahan, Daniel Joseph Kinahan, and Christopher Kinahan Jnr,” she said.

As she spoke, a graphic was displayed on a large screen behind her of the three most-wanted, an ignominy the Kinahans won’t like, not least Christopher Snr.

The appeal even asks for “tips” on the gang, to be sent to [e-mail].

For Daniel Kinahan, still worming his way into the world of professional boxing, this will hurt hard.

That might damage him the most if it gathers momentum in the industry, with calls from Commissioner Harris and Justice Minister Helen McEntee urging the sport to think of its fans and reputation.

Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll said: “They are attempting to destroy a sport that’s so important to inner-city communities. It provided even more incentive, if we didn’t have enough, to bring about the downfall of this particular crime group.” 

Further actions

Both he and the commissioner commented that further actions were to come, in terms of more sanctions, but also more arrest warrants, saying this was just the “first phase”.

Assistant Commissioner O’Driscoll revealed that a European Arrest Warrant has been issued for Sean McGovern, one of the seven people named in the sanctions and “close confidant” and right-hand man of Daniel Kinahan.

Of course, one police agency that was not at the event was that of the United Arab Emirates where six of the seven people are based.

If there’s going to be a second phase to this investigation, that’s where the next bout could be.