News of Daniel Kinahan’s arrest Friday sent shockwaves through the combat sports industry considering his advisory relationship with prominent fighters like Tyson Fury and Terence Crawford, among others, while facing allegations he was the head of a drugs and weapons cartel that generated $1 billion in revenue.
There is no suggestion Fury or Crawford are linked to criminality.
Boxing Social reported on the initial news, together with how he was arrested.
But we’re learning more details.
For one, his arrest — which took place April 15 — was largely kept in secret, and followed 48 hours of “a search and surveillance operation” by police in Dubai, and was only made public by Irish police at 5 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET).
According to The Irish Sun, only a limited number of police and other officials were in the know, so the information remained “very tight.”
Irish authorities detailed Kinahan’s activities to Dubai police in a judicial file.
“Specialised teams immediately launched intensive search and surveillance operations, leading to the suspect’s capture within 48 hours of the warrant being issued,” a statement via The Irish Times said. “Dubai Police confirmed that the arrest took place on April 15th, reflecting the force’s rapid response and operational readiness in handling international cases.”
The Irish Sun, which reported on Kinahan’s alleged links to organized crime for years, reported this week that Gardai is confident it can link Kinahan to encrypted messages that “connect him to murders and plots to kill during the feud against the Hutch gang.”
The Irish Times added that Kinahan wasn’t just the leader of the Kinahan Organized Crime Group (KOCG), he was also a member of a “super cartel” that is responsible for approximately a third of the entire European cocaine market.
A source described Kinahan to The Irish Sun as “a complete and utter egomaniac who genuinely thought he would never see this day.”
The day, though, has come. And with Gardai seemingly confident it has the necessary evidence to convict, Kinahan, according to The Irish Sun, “faces the prospect of a life sentence” once he is extradited from the United Arab Emirates to Ireland.
The Irish Times said Kinahan “will face charges in Ireland” regarding the bloody Kinahan-Hutch feud. The publication noted that police in that country believe he oversaw the feud, which ran from 2015 and 2018, and tallied 18 murders.
Kinahan’s arrest could “fatally weaken” the KOCG.
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