'Clock is ticking on Kinahan cartel after Sean McGovern extradition'
The clock is ticking on the Kinahan crime cartel. The successful extradition of murder suspect Sean McGovern last week from Dubai was a major coup for the Gardai and the Government.
The courts will decide whether McGovern is innocent or guilty, it is not up to me to decide.
But the bottom line is after years on the run abroad, a key ally of the Kinahan family has been brought home in handcuffs and under armed guard to face the music.
The big question is what does it mean for the crime family's leaders Christy Snr, Daniel and Christy Jnr?
All three have been gone from Ireland for over two decades so it will be difficult to link them to any crimes here.
They lived for many years in Marbella on the Costa del Sol and then fled to Dubai almost 10 years ago when the Spanish cops arrested them and started sniffing around their drug-running operations.
As soon as they were released because of a lack of clear evidence, the Kinahan clan upped sticks and fled the Costa overnight to the gulf, buying plush homes and investing in various legitimate businesses in Dubai.
The father and sons are still residing there with their families even though the eyes of the Gardai and various western intelligence services are on them around the clock.
Their cause has also not been helped by a €15 million collective bounty being put on their heads by the Americans who regard them as serious international drug traffickers and want them extradited to the US to face charges there, no less.
The more the net tightens on the Kinahans, the bolder they get.
A small army of Russian bodyguards protect them around the clock in Dubai but they have also built close ties with both the Russian and Iranian Governments.
They wouldn't be short of another bolthole if they decide to do another runner.
The rulers of Dubai are a clever bunch and will do whatever is in their own and country's best interests.
They wouldn't bat an eyelid about hanging the Kinahan family out to dry if they become too much of an embarrassment to the United Arab Emirates.
So don't be one bit surprised if one of these days, you hear that the three Kinahan lads are nicked in the middle of the night and thrown in jail. Life in a Dubai slammer is not, by all accounts, very nice.
McGovern, by all accounts, was relieved to get back to Ireland after being held for eight months in an Arab jail. The wardens don't pay too much respect to human rights. Everyone arrested is presumed guilty until proven otherwise.
The Gardai have built up a huge file on the activities of the Kinahan crime family right across the globe and it is gone to our Director of Public Prosecutions.
He must decide what charges he wants proffered against Christy Snr, Daniel and Christy Jnr before the state formally seeks their extradition.
A total of 18 people were killed during the much heralded Kinahan-Hutch feud with 14 fatal casualties on the Hutch side.
The Kinahans were able from abroad to pay an army of assassins to do their dirty work and take out many innocent members of the Hutch family who had no act or part in the assassination of Kinahan henchman David Byrne in the Regency Hotel shooting which caused the feud in the first place.
But, from a legal point of view, it will be very difficult to prove and also almost impossible to charge any of the three with murder.
I am sure the Irish authorities will go after them for operating and directing an organised crime gang and then they have to persuade the powers that be in Dubai that there is a case to answer.
Relations between the Irish Government and the United Arab Emirates have improved no end recently. The extradition of McGovern would not have been possible a couple of years ago.
Dubai traditionally has turned a blind eye to criminals living in the kingdom so long as they spend and invest plenty of money there and don't commit any crimes while in Dubai.
Everything kind of runs on a nod and a wink and the Kinahans have largely kept their nose clean there.
But knowing them, they will do everything in their power to stay one step ahead of the cops and use their wealth and influence to try and skip Dubai when they need to.
If they are arrested and brought home to stand trial it will be some coup for the Gardai and the Government. Do not bet against it happening.
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