The Government has approved an extradition treaty with Dubai and the rest of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), paving the way for the extradition of the senior leadership of the Kinahan organised crime group.
Ministers approved the move in the virtual Cabinet on Friday morning. Minister of Justice Helen McEntee will now bring the agreement before the Dáil for approval.
“Given the increasingly transnational nature of organised crime, it is imperative that Ireland strategically strengthens judicial co-operation in criminal matters with other countries as part of our efforts to combat this serious global threat,” Ms McEntee said.
Speaking to reporters, Ms McEntee said the agreement comprises two strands; an extradition treaty and a mutual legal assistance agreement which will allow coordination in police investigations and asset seizures.
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She accepted that organised criminals such as the Kinahans may try to flee the city state as a result of the treaty but insisted “the net is tightening”.
She said the treaty will drive home the message that “irrespective of who you are, that criminals know that they cannot evade justice”.
The treaty will be signed on Monday in a formal ceremony in Abu Dabi involving Ms McEntee and her counterpart Abdullah Bin Sultan Bin Awad Al Nuaimi.
“Obviously the Kinahan family and organisation have been based there for a number of years, so without getting into specifics, this will allow An Garda Síochána, following a request from the DPP for charges to be brought, to go to the courts to seek a warrant to then bring that to the UAE authorities and hopefully get extraditions,” she said.
Since at least 2016, Christopher Kinahan, who established the criminal gang, and his two sons Daniel and Christopher jnr, who run its day-to-day operations, have lived openly and in luxurious conditions in the UAE city state of Dubai.
It is a key aim of Government and the Garda to secure the extradition of the gang’s leadership to face charges, including murder charges, relating to the Hutch-Kinahan feud that killed some 20 people .
US authorities have offered a €15 million award for information relating to the prosecution of the gang leaders and have targeted its seven most senior members with strict sanctions.
The Director of Public Prosecutions is currently considering a file on Daniel Kinahan relating to his involvement in the 2016 feud murder of Eddie Hutch.
Last week, an international arrest warrant was issued for Sean McGovern, another senior gang leader and close associate of Daniel who lives in Dubai.
McGovern was one of seven men at the apex of the Kinahan cartel who had financial and travel sanctions imposed on them by US law enforcement just over two years ago. He is regarded as a key figure in the cartel’s inner circle and is especially close to Daniel Kinahan.
The DPP in Ireland directed McGovern should face charges relating to the murder of Noel Kirwan (62) in Dublin in 2016 as part of the Kinahan-Hutch feud. He is also charged with directing organised crime.
The extradition agreement between Ireland and UAE is expected to significantly reduce the potential legal hurdles in extraditing the gang leaders.
It is also seen as a sign of UAE’s increased willingness to co-operate with European authorities. In the past, the UAE has been reluctant to extradite western criminals and has been accused of using them as political bargaining chips.
However, there are now signs it is seeking to shed its image as a safe haven for the organised criminals.
Negotiations with the UAE over an extradition treaty have been ongoing since last year. Co-operation between gardaí and police in the UAE has also been increasing. Last year, a Garda liaison officer was appointed to the UAE capital Abu Dhabi to advise police on Irish organised criminals living there.
A number of Dubai police recently travelled to Dublin to assist gardaí in the investigation relating to the seizure off the coast of Waterford last year of the MV Matthew, which was found to be carrying 2.2 tonnes of cocaine.
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