The man named in court as a key member of the Kinahan cartel based in Dubai, Sean McGovern, is due to appear before an evening sitting of the Special Criminal Court in Dublin after his extradition flight from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was delayed by around two hours.
Gardaí confirmed on Thursday evening that they had arrested McGovern following his extradition.
The 39-year-old Dubliner is facing a charge of murder, and of directing organised crime, related to the Kinahan-Hutch feud. The murder charge relates to the shooting dead of Noel Kirwan (62) in Clondalkin, Dublin, in December 2016.
Mr Kirwan was not involved in the Kinahan-Hutch feud or organised crime but was shot dead because he was a friend of the Hutch family and had been photographed at the funeral of feud victim Eddie Hutch in February, 2016.
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McGovern had been living in Dubai since about 2016 and was a close associate, and key ally, of cartel leader Daniel Kinahan. McGovern was arrested at his Dubai last October on foot of an extradition request from Ireland and has been in custody in UAE since then.
McGovern’s flight landed at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, Co Kildare, early Thursday evening. He was being flown back to Ireland, under Garda escort, on board an Air Corps aircraft, which departed Dubai on Wednesday night and refuelled several times on the journey to Ireland.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has welcomed the extradition, though did not mention McGovern by name, adding it was proof of the “excellent criminal justice co-operation” now in place between Ireland at the UAE.
“In recent years, the UAE and Ireland have worked together to advance criminal investigations into serious and organised crime,” he said. “That strong cooperation was further strengthened by the decision to deploy a Garda liaison officer to Abu Dhabi last year and the negotiation of bilateral treaties on extradition and mutual legal assistance.”
Those treaties had come into force on Sunday, May 18th, after “tireless work” by the Garda and Department of Justice and their UAE counterparts. The events now unfolding demonstrated the “government will work through the necessary steps to pursue organised crime groups inflicting misery on our communities.”
The Garda’s Deputy Commissioner Shawna Coxon said transnational crime gangs “cause misery to communities not only in Ireland” but globally.
“They engage in murder, human trafficking and drug dealing,” she said. “Tackling these gangs not only makes Ireland safer, but all the other countries they operate in as well.”
The extradition was “another significant development in on our continued work with international law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle transnational organised crime gangs”.
Also not mentioning McGovern by name, as the extradition process was ongoing when she spoke on Thursday evening, Deputy Commissioner Coxon she said it had come about after “intricate investigative work” by the Garda and international law enforcement partners.
“This work is not possible without the assistance of the Department of Justice, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
“I want to particularly thank the Ministry of Justice at a judicial level in the United Arab Emirates. Our police-to-police co-operation globally is critical to the dismantling of organised crime.”
