Police say they will go after Daniel Kinahan's father and brother after Irish crime boss is arrested in Dubai - and hunt begins for hundreds of millions in cartel cash

By ELIANA SILVER, SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 11:47, 20 April 2026 | Updated: 11:47, 20 April 2026 Detectives who arrested the notorious Irish crime boss Daniel Kinahan on Wednesday have warned the remaining leaders of the clan: 'We're not done yet.' Kinahan, hunted by the authorities for years, was arrested in Dubai on foot of a warrant issued by an Irish court in relation to directing an organised crime gang. Now, as a hunt begins for millions of pounds in cartel cash, police have vowed to go after Kinahan's brother Christopher Jnr and dad Christy. Speaking to The Irish Sun, one senior official said: 'Different layers of the Kinahan organisation have all been dismantled over the past ten years. 'The hit teams have been convicted, the drug distribution networks have been dismantled, money laundering structures crushed, key figures are in prison, and now the overall leader has been arrested.' 'But there are still people out there who are part of Daniel Kinahan's inner circle. The ultimate objective is to completely dismantle a criminal organisation that caused so much misery in Ireland.' Dubai-based cartel associate Ian Dixon, identified by the US for arranging money for Kinahan, remains under investigation alongside Bernard Clancy, another key lieutenant.  Also on the police's radar are the gang's 'principal representative' Ross Browning, and key money man Johnny ‘Johnny Cash’ Morrissey, who is being investigated in Costa del Sol, Spain. The Kinahan family were 'sanctioned' by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2022, which placed $5million (£3.7million) bounties on their heads THE KEY DEVELOPMENTS THAT LED TO DANIEL KINAHAN’S DOWNFALL SEPTEMBER 2015: Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch’s nephew Gary is shot dead in Spain. The murder of the 34-year-old sparks the bitter Kinahan-Hutch feud that would claim 18 lives, while multiple attempts are made on the life of Gary’s father, Patsy. DECEMBER 2015: Kinahan cartel gunmen make two unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Gerry Hutch. FEBRUARY 2016: Daniel Kinahan narrowly escapes assassination after Hutch gunmen dressed as gardaí storm an event at the Regency Hotel in Dublin – but key lieutenant David Byrne, 33, is shot dead and two others injured. Kinahan relocates from Spain to Dubai. The Regency Hotel attack in 2016 JULY 2018: The Garda Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) tells the High Court Daniel Kinahan controls and manages the day-to-day operations of the Kinahan drugs gang. The court accepts CAB’s findings. Kinahan does not legally challenge the gardaí. MARCH 2022: Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh – the Kinahan gang’s leader in the UK – is jailed for 21 years for importing €36million worth of cocaine and cannabis. APRIL 2022: At a press conference in Dublin, then US Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin announces her government will provide a $15million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Daniel Kinahan. Sanctions are also imposed against him and six of his associates, including his father Christopher Sr and brother Christopher Jr. OCTOBER 2024: Two years after a European Arrest warrant was issued for him, Daniel Kinahan’s right-hand man Sean McGovern is arrested in Dubai. Seven months later he is extradited back to Ireland to go on trial. Sean McGovern was lifted in March MARCH 2026: McGovern appears before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin. He admits to his role in the murder of Noel Kirwan in Clondalkin in December 2016. He also admits putting Hutch gang member James Gateley under surveillance. APRIL 15, 2026: Daniel Kinahan is arrested in Dubai, where he had been under surveillance, after a warrant for his arrest was issued by the High Court in Dublin. It is expected that he will be extradited back to Ireland to stand trial. 48-year-old Kinahan and his father, Christy Kinahan Sr, have been living in Dubai since 2016, when they moved from the Costa del Sol in Spain following the murder of David Byrne in the infamous Regency Hotel attack that sparked a bloody war with the rival Hutch Gang. The pair were spotted living freely on June 14 last year when they were pictured at a mixed martial arts event in Dubai, seemingly impervious to their status as two of the world's most wanted men. Senior sources say Kinahan was in 'total shock' when arrested by Dubai police, adding that the crime boss had invested 'big money' into UAE contacts and believed this would lead to him being tipped off. They told the Mail on Sunday: 'Because they had so much money splashed around the place, they thought they were important and would be tipped off. But that is totally not true, so they were blindsided.' Kinahan was under surveillance for two days from the time the warrant was secured in Ireland, and prior to Dubai police securing their own warrant for his arrest. 'They didn't know it was coming at all,' a source familiar with the operation said. 'They were under surveillance for a few days prior to them [the Dubai police] getting their own warrant to arrest him. It is unbelievable, phenomenal. 'The charge is for directing an organised crime gang and that will put him behind bars for a long time, but they may get a murder charge yet. 'It's probably one of the biggest criminal justice outcomes with organised and serious crime in the State's history. It's unprecedented. I'd say they're in complete shock.' The Mail understands that a local shopping mall and nearby Indian restaurant not far from the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, served as the main hubs for police surveillance on the 48-year-old gunrunning kingpin.  It was the first use of a fresh extradition treaty between Ireland and the UAE that made Kinahan's arrest possible, with only a few officials in the know. One senior official told the Irish Daily Mail: 'This is a major, major coup. The warrants were obtained in the High Court. 'The gardaí had gone to the High Court after a decision was made to charge Kinahan in connection with serious organised crime offences.' Kinahan could now face spending the rest of his life behind bars for his alleged role in the gang after a 48-hour survelliance operation in Dubai led to his downfall. David Byrne's killing ten years ago started a brutal and bloody war with fellow Irish crime syndicate the Hutch Gang, which claimed the lives of 18 people over the next three years and brought daylight shootings to the streets of Dublin. The Irish authorities had been hunting the Kinahan and his father for years, and they were even wanted in the US, where the pair had $5million (£3.7million) bounties on their heads after the Kinahan family cartel, valued at around €1billion (£864million), allegedly smuggled 'deadly narcotics, including cocaine, to Europe'. But the Kinahans' reach goes much further: along with a vast property empire centred on their Dubai 'hideaway', they have even worked with the Iranian-backed terrorists Hezbollah, who helped them with money laundering and weapons. Since moving to Dubai with his wife, Caoimhe Robinson, Kinahan had established a property portfolio - including a sprawling villa in the UAE worth millions. Alongside his brother he had also set up a number of companies in the food, clothing and textiles industries, while at the same time making millions as a boxing promoter. He was paid more than $4million working as a dealmaker for Tyson Fury. Kinahan was paid more than $4million working as a dealmaker for Tyson Fury Kinahan was under surveillance for two days from the time the warrant was secured in Ireland, and prior to Dubai police securing their own warrant for his arrest Daniel Kinahan's crime boss father Christy Kinahan, 68, was pictured for the first time in years at the UFC fight in June last year Christy Kinahan Jnr pictured at David Byrne's funeral It was revealed that the work of a quick-witted gardai officer, who snatched pictures of encrypted messages on an accomplice's Blackberry device, may be used in the bid to build a case against the crime boss. Sources cited by The Irish Sun said Irish police believe they can link the crime boss to encrypted messages connecting him to murders and plots to murder rivals in the deadly conflict with the Hutch Gang. This includes messages from an Estonian hitman Imre Arakas who is known as The Butcher. Arakas had flown to Ireland to kill Hutch gangster James Gately in April 2017. But the assassin failed. Police had received intelligence he was due to arrive in the country and he was placed on surveillance. It was Arakas's arresting officer who seized the hitman's Blackberry phone and took pictures of the incriminating messages before they disappeared from the device. He was later sentenced to six years in prison. Police believe Kinahan was communicating with Arakas about the assassination attempt under the names of 'Bon' and 'Bon new' on the hitman's phone. Former Det Sgt Greg Sheehan called Kinahan's arrest a 'fantastic result.' He said: 'I hope the arrest of Daniel Kinahan will bring some comfort to all of the victims who have been murdered by the criminal organisation over the years. 'I also think we shouldn’t forget about the thousands of lives that have been destroyed by the drugs that his organisation brought into Ireland and across Europe. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. 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