Gardaí optimistic Kinahan cartel leaders can be extradited to Ireland if DPP approves charges

The Garda has completed a major criminal investigation into the leadership figures of the Kinahan cartel, with a file submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and a decision on criminal charges awaited, The Irish Times has learned.

The crimes investigated were committed in the Republic and are linked to the cartel’s drug-trafficking business and its dispute, which escalated into a bloody feud, with the Hutch gang.

Many Garda officers believed the United States authorities were the most likely to bring the Kinahans to justice, mainly because of the power of US law enforcement and the rewards of up to $5 million offered for information that would lead to criminal charges.

However, there is now renewed hope the leadership figures of the cartel, who have been based mainly in Dubai for much of the past decade, will be charged in the Republic and extradited here to face trial. The Garda file has been under review by the DPP for several months and there is optimism within Irish law-enforcement charges will be approved.

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The completion of the major Garda investigation and submission of the file into the cartel’s top tier is very significant as its founder, Christy Kinahan snr, has not been before the courts in Ireland for more than two decades. He has never been charged with any cartel-related crimes in the Republic. His sons, Daniel and Christopher jnr, who have been named in Irish courts as leaders in the cartel, have never faced charges in Ireland.

When asked about the investigation being completed and the DPP’s ongoing review of the file, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said he could not comment on any investigations into “individual members of the Kinahan organised crime group”.

“But we have completed a very comprehensive and wide-ranging investigation into numerous serious offences committed here in Ireland and that file has been submitted to the DPP,” he said. “And we would hope to see leadership figures within the Kinahan organised crime group brought to justice here in Ireland.”

[ Drew Harris interview: ‘We need to be aware that we’re living in a far more dangerous and fractious world’ ]

In a wide-ranging interview today with The Irish Times, Mr Harris also said “this decade there is going to be an ongoing issue about recruitment” to the Garda.

He pointed out retirements would be very high in the years to come, because Garda recruitment was accelerated 30 to 40 years ago and that generation was now reaching retirement age. While recruitment had recommenced after the pandemic, it must now “gain momentum”. In the next “15 to 20 years” it was likely the Garda force, which now numbered just under 14,000 members, would need to be 20,000-strong to respond to changing policing demands and population growth.

However, he disputed claims that Dublin had become more dangerous or violent, saying attacks in public places had not increased in the city, which he believed was safer than other European cities.

He also rejected claims, from inside the force, that he has been too quick to suspend gardaí facing allegations of wrongdoing. He also believed the Garda Representative Association’s (GRA) decision to ballot its members on a motion of no confidence in him was unnecessary and asked: “What credibility can it have?”

He said gun crime had plummeted in recent years because “dozens and dozens” of men involved in the Kinahan-Hutch feud were jailed in the Republic and this had deterred other gangs from engaging in gun murders or feuding. However, Irish organised gangs were still heavily involved in the drugs trade.

Mr Harris added it was possible major foreign drug gangs may decide they should “take a cut” of the Irish drug trade, as the domestic economy was so strong and demand for drugs so high. The Garda had to remain vigilant to the threat of foreign cartels looking for a foothold in the Republic, he said.