Special Forces raid on 'narco tanker' could expose the gangsters behind global drug smuggling cartel

Daily Mail​

15-07-2025

An undercover operation by American agents that successfully infiltrated a global drugs trafficking ring run by the Kinahan cartel has been revealed for the first time -days after eight gangsters who were caught in a Special Forces raid on a 'narco-tanker' in the Irish Sea were jailed.
In a dramatic operation akin to something from a movie, operatives from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) penetrated the gang's vast international network.
The high-stakes mission, revealed for the first time in newly unsealed federal court records, exposed how the bloodthirsty group was expanding its empire globally in a bid to rival the likes of Mexico 's fearsome Sinaloa Cartel.
Gangsters from the Irish narcotic empire are accused of trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl precursor chemicals worldwide.
The discovery by the DEA will undoubtedly worry drugs barons within the group, with the authority's investigation now exposing the cartel's move towards smuggling synthetic drugs - a shift from its traditional cocaine trafficking operation.
News of the dramatic operation by American agents comes after eight men from the Kinahan cartel were jailed earlier this month for their part in trying to smuggle 2.2 tonnes of cocaine, worth $178million) into the country.
The vast haul was found after special forces soldiers from the Irish Army Range Wing fast-roped from a helicopter onto the Panamanian cargo ship, MV Matthew, in September 2023.
The bust was hailed the biggest-ever cocaine seizure in Irish waters and exposed how the Kinahans were linked to the Iran-backed terror group, Hezbollah.
Details of the American mission combined with the Irish special forces raid, are raising fresh questions about just how powerful the Kinahan cartel is in the global drugs trade - and how far their reach now extends across the globe.
Founded in the late 1990s in Dublin, the narcotics ring is led by 'Dapper Don' Christy Kinahan, a former street-dealer-turned-international cocaine trafficker.
The cartel is notorious for its brutal tactics, having been accused of a number of gangland hits against rivals.
Now based in Dubai, Kinahan and his sons Daniel and Christopher Jr are the subjects of international sanctions, with a $5million bounty from the U.S. authorities hanging over their heads.
Now, new details have emerged revealing how DEA agents had infiltrated the Kinahans more than a year before the mega drugs bust in September 2023.
The operation began in the Turkish city of Ankara, in June 2022, when the authority's office there recruited a confidential informant, codenamed 'Queen', to penetrate the gang's trafficking operation, reports The Times.
The insider gained the trust of Opinder Singh Sian, a Canadian national accused of holding a top position in the network, who was arrested in Nevada last month.
It's alleged Sian told undercover agents he was linked to the Kinahan cartel, the Italian mafia and a major Turkish trafficker wanted since 2019.
The Kinahans are known to have strong links to Turkey, with the gang having substantial investments in the country.
Under the guidance of DEA handlers, Queen introduced Sian to an undercover agent posing as a relative, who claimed to have the ability to shift vast quantities of drugs via the Port of Long Beach, one of America's busiest container ports.
According to U.S. documents, the three met in March 2023 at a restaurant in Manhattan Beach, California, to set up a new trafficking deal smuggling methamphetamine to Australia, where prices can exceed $200,000 per kilo.
Over the summer of 2023, Sian worked with a team of undercover agents to set up a staged shipment of meth via a safehouse in Pomona, east of Los Angeles.
DEA agents then staged a fake handover, seizing the real drugs for analysis before replacing them with decoy packages.
Meanwhile, when the ship arrived in Australia, police there used a GPS-tracked container to trace the trail to a suspected drugs den in Sydney.
Court documents also show how Sian had used encrypted apps such as Threema to communicate with Queen and other suspected traffickers.
And further investigation uncovered plans by the Kinahans to allegedly smuggle fentanyl precursor chemicals from China into the United States via Canada, with Queen reportedly meeting two Canadian collaborators of Sian who were aiding the narcotics expansion.
The extensive undercover operation provides fresh insight into how the Kinahans have linked up with other key figures in the criminal underworld to try and gain a foothold in the international drugs trade, shifting drugs through global ports.
It's unclear whether this undercover operation provided intelligence which ultimately led to the huge bust on the drugs container ship in September 2023.
Voice messages from an individual in Dubai, identified as 'Captain Noah', show the crew on the MV Matthew were instructed to load all cocaine into a lifeboat for a rendezvous with a different vessel - which would not occur due to the interception by Irish authorities.
The MV Matthew repeatedly ignored instructions from Revenue and the Naval Service's LE WB Yeats.
Text messages and voice notes show panicked communications within the criminal network, including the incorrect belief that the ship would not be boarded if it headed further into international waters.
While trying to evade the naval service, the LE WB Yeats entered a 'hot pursuit' and - acting as a warship - fired warning shots in the vicinity of the MV Matthew.
The captain of the MV Matthew communicated that it was a commercial vessel and was not in jurisdiction covered by the Irish navy: 'Irish warship, please do not fire at us.'
He added: 'Can you advise if you are in hot pursuit of us?'
Criminals onboard started deleting messages and attempted to burn the cocaine onboard as Captain Noah told them they would not be boarded.
He sent a voice message: 'My stress level is near to heart attack, try to be calm.'
However, the Army Ranger Wing would shortly board the vessel by descending on ropes from a helicopter while the ship was moving erratically - ending the chase, leading to the successful arrests and seizure of the cocaine.
Six of the eight men who have now been sentenced were on board the MV Matthew at the time, while the other two were on the trawler.
The eight men who have now been sentenced are:
After they were sentenced, Assistant Commissioner for Organised and Serious Crime Angela Willis said the investigation showed the Irish State's commitment to tackle organised crime.
'Transnational organised crime groups know no borders, they prey on people's vulnerability for their own financial gain.
'People are dispensable and expendable when they are no longer of use to the criminal organisation
'Life is cheap and protecting their core criminal interest - which is money - is their key priority.'
Criminals onboard started deleting messages and attempted to burn the cocaine onboard as Captain Noah told them they would not be boarded.
He sent a voice message: 'My stress level is near to heart attack, try to be calm.'
However, the Army Ranger Wing would shortly board the vessel by descending on ropes from a helicopter while the ship was moving erratically - ending the chase, leading to the successful arrests and seizure of the cocaine.
The eight men who have now been sentenced are:
After they were sentenced, Assistant Commissioner for Organised & Serious Crime Angela Willis said the investigation showed the Irish State's commitment to tackle organised crime.
'Transnational organised crime groups know no borders, they prey on people's vulnerability for their own financial gain.
'People are dispensable and expendable when they are no longer of use to the criminal organisation
'Life is cheap and protecting their core criminal interest - which is money - is their key priority.'