Overview
- The Government's Dassault Falcon 6X left Baldonnell on Saturday as the first operational step in an effort to transfer Daniel Kinahan from Dubai back to Ireland.
- Kinahan has been held in Dubai since his arrest in April under an Irish warrant and lost his final appeal against extradition before UAE courts.
- Irish authorities plan a large security operation involving gardaí, the Defence Forces and the Irish Prison Service and have purchased a bulletproof, bomb‑resistant escort van and upgraded Portlaoise Prison for a high‑risk transfer.
- Officials expect Kinahan to be flown to Ireland on the government jet and then taken to the Special Criminal Court to face expected charges that include directing an organised crime group.
- The transfer follows years of international cooperation under a bilateral extradition agreement and comes against a backdrop of court findings linking Kinahan to a cartel that has been tied to drug trafficking, firearms offences and a violent feud that killed 18 people.