The Irish government jet carrying alleged crime boss Daniel Kinahan has landed in Dublin after he was extradited from Dubai. 

Kinahan, 49, arrived at Casement Aerodrome at Baldonnel, on the outskirts of Dublin, on Sunday evening after more than a decade away from Ireland.

The alleged leader of the Kinahan organised crime group, who is estimated to have assets worth more than $1billion, was flown home under armed guard after losing his final legal battle against extradition from the United Arab Emirates.

He is expected to be brought before the Special Criminal Court in Dublin, where he will face a single charge of directing the activities of an organised crime gang alleged to be responsible for multiple murders.

The three-judge court, which sits without a jury, has yet to set a date for his trial and significant legal arguments are expected before proceedings can begin.

Irish authorities allege that the organisation has operated on a vast international scale, with links stretching across Europe, the Middle East and South America.

The cartel has been accused of involvement in drug trafficking, money laundering and a series of murders linked to the bloody feud between the Kinahan and Hutch gangs.

Kinahan was arrested in Dubai in April after an Irish extradition request. His detention came as investigators examined alleged links between the cartel and oil shipments involving Iranian crude being transported to China.

The return marks the end of a decade-long international manhunt for the Dublin-born father-of-five, who has lived openly in Dubai since fleeing Ireland during the height of the Kinahan-Hutch gangland feud.

The Irish government jet carrying alleged crime boss Daniel Kinahan has landed in Dublin

Kinahan, 49, arrived at Casement Aerodrome at Baldonnel, on the outskirts of Dublin, on Sunday evening after more than a decade away from Ireland 

His arrival in Ireland has been accompanied by an unprecedented security operation involving armed Garda units, military personnel and heavily protected vehicles.

Security sources have warned that he could face multiple threats once back in Ireland, including from rival criminals, dissident republicans, hostile state actors and powerful gangland figures seeking revenge for the deaths of their associates.

His return comes more than ten years after he left Ireland and follows years in which Dubai provided him with a base beyond the reach of Irish law enforcement.

The Kinahan organisation became internationally notorious during the feud with the rival Hutch gang, which escalated after the 2016 Regency Hotel shooting in Dublin.

David Byrne was shot dead during the attack, which was carried out by gunmen disguised as members of An Garda Síochána.

Kinahan was himself narrowly missed in the attack.

The conflict subsequently claimed a succession of lives in Ireland and abroad and turned the Kinahan organisation into one of Europe’s most feared criminal networks.

He is expected to be taken directly from Baldonnel to the Special Criminal Court, a non-jury court established to deal with serious organised crime and terrorism cases.

After his appearance, Kinahan is expected to be transferred to Portlaoise Prison in the Irish Midlands, where he will be held in the maximum-security A Block.

The wing has been described as a ‘prison within a prison’ and is used for some of the State’s highest-risk prisoners. 

Irish prison authorities have been preparing for his possible arrival for months, with Kinahan expected to be housed in the A5 unit of the high-security wing.

The prison has already been home to another senior Kinahan cartel figure, Sean McGovern, who was extradited from Dubai last year and later sentenced to 24 years after pleading guilty to directing a criminal organisation.

McGovern’s conviction related to the murder of Noel ‘Duck Egg’ Kirwan in Dublin in 2016 and a plot to murder James ‘Mago’ Gately.

Kinahan’s incarceration is expected to involve exceptionally tight restrictions on his movements and communications.

He is likely to be segregated from other prisoners and closely monitored because of the risk that his position in the alleged cartel could allow him to exert influence from inside prison.

But his knowledge of international criminal and financial networks is also understood to be of considerable interest to American authorities.

US authorities offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Kinahan’s capture and may seek to interview him after his Irish trial.

Intelligence sources say Kinahan possesses detailed information about the export of Iranian and Russian crude using so-called shadow fleet vessels to China and India, as well as secret financial networks allegedly used by Iran to fund Hezbollah and Hamas.

American authorities are pursuing investigations into the cartel over its alleged role in facilitating terrorism through services provided to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which finances Hezbollah.

The United States sanctioned Kinahan and other senior members of the organisation in 2022, accusing the group of involvement in international drug trafficking and money laundering.