Senior figures in the Kinahan cartel who remain at large, mainly in Dubai, are in a “perilous position” as the State has already secured significant policing results that “people said couldn’t be done”, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said.
Deputy Commissioner Justin Kelly, who is in charge of security-related policing including organised crime, said senior and junior cartel members would be pursued by An Garda Siochána even if they went to countries that do not have extradition treaties with the State.
Rewards amounting to $15 million (€13 million) from US law enforcement remain available for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of cartel founder Christy Kinahan and his sons, Daniel and Christopher jnr.
Many people linked to them needed to now carefully consider their options, gardaí said.
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Mr Harris and Mr Kelly were speaking just over a week after the wanted cartel figure, Seán McGovern, was extradited from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Ireland to face charges over alleged crimes linked to the Kinahan-Hutch feud.
The charges include murder, directing a crime gang and enhancing the capabilities of a crime gang.
McGovern last October became the first cartel member to be arrested in Dubai. He is the first Irish person ever extradited from the UAE to the Republic.
His extradition became possible after a once-off agreement was reached between the UAE and Ireland. A permanent extradition agreement between the two states came into force for future cases last month.
Mr Harris said the relationship the Garda had built with Dubai Police was strong and had resulted in Dubai aiding the extradition and “providing us with information” about cartel members.
He and Mr Kelly stressed that even minor players in the cartel’s activities had information that could secure the US reward money.
“I want to remind others in the Kinahan organised crime gang of the perilous position that they’re now in,” said Mr Harris told reporters in Dublin on Monday. “Ourselves and other law enforcement are fixed on them, fixed on bringing them to justice, all of them to justice.
“So all of them should be worried and they should be thinking of the choices, serious life choices, that are now ahead of them in respect of what they do over the coming months.”
Almost two years ago, The Irish Times revealed a Garda investigation had been concluded into the alleged activities in Ireland of the cartel’s leadership team based in Dubai, with a file sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Some of the leadership figures were also investigated for their alleged roles in the 2016 Kinahan-Hutch feud murder of Eddie Hutch. He was the brother of Gerry Hutch, known as The Monk, who was named in Garda evidence to the High Court as the main protagonist in the feud on the Hutch side.
However, when asked whether any directions on criminal charges had been received from the DPP relating to those investigations, Mr Harris said he could not provide a running commentary on such matters.
Mr Kelly said he had previously made clear the Garda would be “relentless in our pursuit” of cartel members and others involved in organised crime. Going to another country, even one with no extradition agreement in place, did not offer them safety, he added.
“It doesn’t matter where in the world they are,” he said. “We’ve absolutely dismantled two of the organised crime groups here in Dublin. At one stage we had 47 members of one group in jail,” Mr Kelly added, in reference to the Byrne organised crime group, which ran the cartel’s operation in Ireland, though he did not name them.
Anyone who was involved in organised crime, or was just becoming involved, needed to be aware of the response they would be met with.
“The reality facing you is the full force of the State against you; investigations by specialist investigators, prosecutions, many of these cases in the Special Criminal Court. And there’s been numerous lengthy sentences handed out for drugs, firearms,” Mr Kelly said.
“We now have substantial legislation around organised crime; directing and facilitating organised crime. So there’s a huge range of powers we have.”
For many of those jailed in recent years, the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) had followed up by seizing their homes and other assets.
The “events of the last week” – a reference to the McGovern extradition – offered a clear demonstration of “the absolute relentlessness” of the approach now being pursued by the Garda, he added.
