Investigation finds 'notorious cartel leaders' living openly in Dubai
Irish cartel leaders Christy Kinahan and his son Daniel are “living freely in Dubai” despite an international manhunt and multimillion-dollar rewards for information leading to their arrest, an investigation by The Sunday Times and Bellingcat has found.
Photographs and video footage place the two men at a mixed martial arts event at Dubai’s Coca-Cola Arena.
The Kinahan Organised Crime Group, also known as the Kinahan cartel, believed to be worth about $1.1bn, is an Irish transnational crime syndicate that authorities say is among the most powerful criminal networks in Ireland.
Irish police estimate that most drugs trafficked by the group from mainland Europe were destined for the United Kingdom, making the cartel one of the largest suppliers of drugs to the UK.
According to The Sunday Times report, Christy Kinahan was seen “sitting unperturbed in the white VIP seats at the front of a crowd of 6,000 people” while watching bouts at the 971 Fighting Championship.
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The Kinahans have been among the world’s most wanted organised crime figures since the United States announced sanctions against the family and offered rewards of up to $5m for information leading to the dismantling of the Kinahan network.
Authorities in several countries accuse the cartel of running large-scale drug trafficking, arms smuggling and money laundering operations.
Investigators said the images were uncovered through open-source intelligence methods, including AI-powered facial recognition searches and analysis of publicly available social media footage.
After identifying an image of Daniel Kinahan at the event, journalists obtained hours of video from a live-streaming service and used digital forensics to confirm the identities of both men.
The investigation said the footage shows the pair appearing relaxed and making little effort to conceal themselves in public.
“If either man were concerned about the prospect of arrest and deportation in the United Arab Emirates, they certainly did not show it,” the report said.
US law enforcement agencies have described Christy Kinahan as the central figure behind the criminal network. The investigation said he “is the leader of the cartel that controls much of the cocaine brought into Europe”, with operations stretching across several continents.
In September, a light aircraft carrying about 200kg of “SpaceX-branded” cocaine crashed in Brazil, killing an Australian pilot and exposing links to the cartel’s network across Africa and Europe.
US court records published by The Sunday Times also show that the Drug Enforcement Administration infiltrated a narcotics operation tied to the family, providing "first concrete evidence" of the group operating directly in North America and expanding into methamphetamine and fentanyl trafficking.
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