International money-laundering inquiry underway into Kinahan cartel assets

A transatlantic money laundering investigation is underway, in an attempt to seize assets of the Kinahan cartel.

The Irish Times says the gardaí are working with agencies in the United Arab Emirates, Australia, the UK and the US to trace money connected with the international drugs trade.

On Sunday, 49-year-old Daniel Kinahan appeared before a sitting of the Special Criminal Court, charged with directing organised crime between dates in October 2015 and April 2017, after being extradited from Dubai.

The married father of five had lived in the city with his family for 10 years. He was arrested there in mid-April and had been in custody until his extradition.

The main focus of the international inquiry is the men linked to the organisation who were sanctioned by US law enforcement in 2022. They included founder Christy Kinahan snr, and his two sons, Daniel and Christopher jnr, as well as their cousin, Ian Dixon.

The men lived in Dubai and were tax-domiciled there for about a decade. The authorities in the UAE already claim to have frozen assets linked to the group valued at almost €200 million.