When Daniel Kinahan appeared before the Special Criminal Court last Sunday night, members of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DocB), who had secured the criminal charge against him, were packed into the court room.
As the hearing unfolded, news was emerging of another Garda operation unrelated to the Kinahans.
Crystal meth and cannabis valued at almost €1 million had been found and a suspect arrested. The seizure was relatively minor in the context of the Irish drug and organised crime scene.
The discovery of very large consignments of drugs is now so frequent in the Republic – because so many people are smuggling, selling and consuming narcotics – that seizures valued at €5 million or less barely cause a stir in the media.
But the near €1 million seizure last Sunday night was a reminder, if one were needed, that the drug trade never rests. That gangs behind it are industrious and highly motivated.
As soon as one gang – or even a large cartel – is hit hard or halted by gardaí, someone else has already gained a foothold in the trade and is ready to move into their place. The process never stops. Even the biggest of seizures rarely affects availability of any drug on the streets.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said as much on Wednesday when speaking to the media in Galway. Asked about the Kinahan group and whether the men at the helm were still smuggling drugs, Kelly said it would be unwise to focus too narrowly on a small number of crime groups.
Yes, there were still suspected Kinahan group leaders at liberty, and still under investigation. But, he said, DocB had many other fish to fry.
“There’s often an emphasis on one or two particular groups, but there’s a number of them operating at a transnational organised crime level,” Kelly said. “Some of them are based here, and some of them based outside Ireland.”
[ Daniel Kinahan now categorised as ‘captured’ by US agency that offered $5m rewardOpens in new window ]
DocB, whose investigation has resulted in Kinahan being charged with directing organised crime, was working “day in, day out – and there’s many other targets they were working on”.
He anticipated “successes” in relation to some of those senior figures “in the coming months and years ahead”.
“When it comes to the various [organised crime] groups, we work with international partners, we look at the intelligence, we assess them, we rate them. We’ve a really good idea about their capabilities … That’s how we assign resources to them and mount operations.”
He said DocB had been investigating the Kinahan group relentlessly for a decade, through “the complexities, the man hours, the travel all over the globe that people have put in”.
Irish drug gangs have become increasingly ambitious and are present around the world, including Europe, Asia, South America, Central America, North America and Australia.
Irish crime groups have developed close contacts with drug suppliers in those regions. Some Irish gang members have moved abroad to ensure the supply of drugs from source to the streets, pubs and clubs of Ireland is never interrupted. They have set themselves up as criminal liaison officers on the ground.
[ Garda Commissioner came ‘face to face’ with Daniel KinahanOpens in new window ]
The Garda has been forced to respond in kind. As senior Irish criminals fled to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, the Garda and Government engaged their counterparts there.
Through years of diplomacy with and visits to the UAE by Garda commissioners and ministers for justice, an extradition treaty with Ireland has been put in place. Suddenly, the so-called safe haven of Dubai is within the reach of Irish law enforcement.
The Garda has also posted members to Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Madrid, Paris, London, The Hague, Washington DC and Bogotá. The misguided see that move as a waste of resources. The informed know the Garda force must work as closely with their allies around the world as Irish criminals do with their international suppliers.
Kelly also touched on this yesterday, saying the Garda force had learned much from investigating the Kinahan-Hutch feud over the past decade, including getting closer to many new and existing international partners – mostly other police forces.
“When I think back to 2023 – I visited UAE with former commissioner Drew Harris – I was assistant commissioner in organised and serious crime at the time,” he said. “We met a high-level delegation from UAE around the Kinahan group. One of the key people we met there was Lieutenant General Al Marri, who’s the head of Dubai Police.
“It gave me great satisfaction to talk to him, and I spoke to him on the morning of Sean McGovern’s arrest [in October 2024 in Dubai]. I spoke to him on the morning of Daniel Kinahan’s arrest [in Dubai in April] and I spoke to him last Sunday again, on the arrival of Daniel Kinahan back.
“And I say that to show the importance of international relations – that I would have that type of relationship with the head of Dubai Police.”