‘Mob boss’ Daniel Kinahan trial to have ‘unprecedented’ safety as arrest might spark gang struggle

Prison bosses are already making contingency plans for the potential arrival of Daniel Kinahan, who could even be on Irish soil within days if he doesn’t fight his extradition from the UAE

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A suspected mob boss’s trial poses ‘unprecedented’ security concerns amid fears it’ll spark prison warfare with a rival gang. Daniel Kinahan, 48, was arrested in a bombshell swoop in Dubai after a warrant was sent to the UAE last week by Irish police.

It is claimed Kinahan is the day-to-day leader of the Kinahan cartel and is also a member of the European super cartel, which controls about a third of the cocaine trade in the continent and is effectively a coalition of European mobs, including the Italian mafia.

Prison authorities are already drawing up contingency plans for his potential arrival within the coming weeks, as there are worries that hostilities with the Hutch gang could reignite within prison walls.

Sources say if he’s extradited it would be by far the most significant organised crime figure the Irish criminal justice system has dealt with, meaning Irish authorities here have had to get to work in planning the major security operation that will have to take place.

The court case will be need a huge police operation as he will be the first head of a global drug cartel to go on trial in the country. But there are growing fears his arrest won’t end the drug empire.

A number of gardaí – Irish police officers – with decades of service in the force said Kinahan was a more significant criminal figure than anyone previously on trial. One said he posed “unprecedented risks”.

Sources say Kinahan will in all likelihood be brought to Portlaoise Prison in Co Laois, where his right-hand man Sean McGovern is being kept under the most secure regime possible in Ireland.

But over the coming days and weeks, prison bosses along with gardaí will work to assess all potential threats to Kinahan and to staff before he ever sets foot in the country.

The threat he may try to escape custody, including while being transported from prison for court appearances, would be a big consideration when the security operation was being planned.

And there are concerns that those loyal to the Kinahan cartel could cause trouble behind bars ahead of his arrival – and that those who sympathise with the Hutch clan could pose a threat.

The bloody Kinahan-Hutch feud – which resulted in 18 deaths between 2015 and 2018 – is largely believed to be halted, there are concerns that tensions could flare up again behind bars as major players rub shoulders in Ireland’s prisons.

Dublin-born Kinahan could be in Ireland “within days” if he does not fight extradition, but it could take up to eight months if he does mount a legal challenge.

While his trial would be unprecedented, gardaí and the Irish Defence Forces have previously used decoy vehicles to transfer Kinahan cartel mobster McGovern to court after he became the first person to be extradited from the UAE to Ireland.

Military officers at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, south County Dublin worked with senior gardaí to send two convoys out at the same time, but the cavalcade the filmed by the media was a dummy one.

The real convoy left for the Special Criminal Court left at the same time as the dummy one but from another gate. This is one tactic the authorities could use to ensure Kinahan gets to court safely.

And during the trial of Gerard Hutch – who was acquitted of the murder of David Byrne – armed cops stood outside the court every day and members of the public attending hearings had to sign in and go through security.

Leading Irish crime journalist Michael O’Toole said: “It’s going to be a ring of steel round a ring of steel. There will never have been a security operation for a court case like there will be for Daniel Kinahan.

“The only thing I can liken it to would be the same level of red alert for a visit from the British king or an American president. It will eb that heavy. It will be a tier one security operation from the gardai. In fact, one source said ‘you’ve got to pity the prison service now’.”

Kinahan, the alleged crime boss-turned-boxing promoter, has been hunted by the authorities for years and was finally arrested on Friday after a warrant was issued by an Irish court in relation to alleged serious organised crime offences.

A 200-pagedossier detailing allegations against Daniel Kinahan was reported to have been handed to UAE prosecutors before his shock arrest. It tells how the cartel he allegedly leads was involved in murders, kill bids, gun and drug offences and money laundering.

A source said: “If the prosecutors in the UAE weren’t satisfied with the level of evidence presented to them it’s possible Kinahan might not have been arrested.”

Garda commissioner Justin Kelly praised the Dubai authorities for their help. While he awaits extradition, Kinahan is being held at the notorious Dubai Central Jail, also known as Al Awir Central Jail.

Conditions have been criticised by human rights groups and former inmates, including British man Karl Williams who spent a year in the hellhole prison back in 2012 and penned a memoir about his time there in which he said he saw people being stabbed to death.

Kinahan is wanted here to be charged with directing a criminal organisation – a charge that carries a maximum term of life in prison on conviction.

However despite investigators from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau in Ireland still have the entire clan in their sights, ex-gangster Marvin Herbert laughed off the arrest as a publicity stunt and claimed Kinahan is a legitimate businessman.

Herbert, 54, said the fact that Kinahan’s dad Christy, 69, and his younger brother Christopher Jnr, 45, haven’t been arrested is a clear sign that Kinahan’s predicament isn’t as serious as the Irish authorities have made out.

He told the Sun: “It’s a joke. If there was anything to worry about, all three (Kinahans) would have been arrested. Why wouldn’t they be arrested also? If it was that serious, they would all be nicked.”

Herbert, who describes himself as a motivational speaker and podcaster these days, believes Daniel’s arrest isn’t the end for the Kinahans. He said: “If you become firing line material, that’s what happens. Business is business. That’s just life.

“I think it will all blow over. They won’t get evidence to convict. It’s publicity. I wouldn’t be bothered. I can’t see them (the other Kinahans) being arrested.”

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