Daniel Kinahan

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Daniel Joseph Kinahan is an Irish suspected crime boss whom the High Court of Ireland has named as a senior figure in organised crime on a global scale. Ireland's Criminal Assets Bureau has gone further. It has stated that he "controlled and managed" the Kinahan Organised Crime Group, commonly called the Kinahan Cartel. The bureau says the group smuggles drugs and firearms into Ireland, the UK and mainland Europe. It also says the group "has associations that facilitate international criminal activity in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America".

  For many people who followed sport, his name surfaced in a very different setting, as an adviser who helped broker fights between some of the biggest names in boxing. This documentary follows both threads. It asks how a Dublin family came to face American sanctions, a bitter feud and public outrage from the Irish government. It asks what a man with this reputation was doing in the boxing world. And it asks what courts, rewards and sanctions can achieve against someone based abroad.

  14434620

• 2. Dublin Roots

  ›

  Daniel Kinahan was born on the 25th of June 1977 in Dublin, the eldest son of Jean Boylan and Christy Kinahan. His mother died in 2014. His father is a convicted drug dealer, widely reported to be the founder and leader of the Kinahan Cartel. Janice Boylan, a Sinn Féin member of Dublin City Council, is his second cousin.

  He grew up in Tallaght and later returned to the city, where he lived in the Oliver Bond flats in the Liberties area.

  At the age of 23, he was one of five people arrested over what was described as a "vicious attack" on two members of the Garda Síochána outside Shelbourne Park. He was charged with assault, and Dublin District Court refused him bail. The charges were dropped the following year.

  For a time he ran a furniture store in Dublin. In 2007, he was reported to be part of a bet-to-lose syndicate involving the jockey Kieren Fallon. Two years later, his name surfaced in a diplomatic cable sent by a United States embassy.

  2118231711

• 3. A Global Network

  ›

  The cable, sent from a US embassy in South America to the Pentagon, called him a "suspected international drug-trafficking figure". He is banned from entering the United States, having been placed on a list of "narco terrorists" compiled by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Twenty-seven other associates of the cartel are banned too, including his father and his brother Christopher Jr. He is also reported to be a target of the UK's National Crime Agency.

  In 2010, Kinahan was arrested in Spain during a joint operation by Spanish, Irish and British authorities. The British Serious Organised Crime Agency, the predecessor to the National Crime Agency, deployed more than 200 officers for the arrest phase. The operation was a multinational drug trafficking inquiry.

  Documents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration, sent to Dutch police, describe what they portray as a super drug cartel. It was headed by Kinahan alongside Raffaele Imperiale, described as a drugs and arms dealer for the Camorra. The others were Ridouan Taghi, a Dutch criminal now in jail, and Edin Gačanin, a Bosnian drug trafficker.

  The DEA observed the group meeting at the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, which it treats as the alleged cartel's base. Those meetings took place in 2017, but they reached the Dutch media only in October 2019. The DEA regards the group as one of the fifty largest drug cartels in the world. It says the group has a virtual monopoly of Peruvian cocaine and would control around a third of the cocaine trade in Europe. According to the documents, every shipment was bound for Dutch ports.

  Violence far closer to Dublin had begun two years before those hotel meetings.

  2627282925

• 4. The Hutch Feud

  ›

  In 2015, in Marbella, Spain, a man named Gary Hutch was murdered, and the killing set off a feud between two Irish criminal groups. Hutch belonged to the Hutch gang. The Kinahan gang is blamed for his death, and in 2018 a Spanish police officer told a court in Marbella that Daniel Kinahan had ordered it. Accounts of the toll differ, with at least 18 dead as of August 2021 and nineteen in another count.

  The Kinahans were believed to be behind a number of the killings that followed. Eddie Hutch Snr. was shot dead in the North Strand area of Dublin in February 2016. Gareth Hutch was shot dead that May. In January 2018, Derek Coakley-Hutch, described as another nephew, was also shot dead.

  Noel "Kingsize" Duggan, a cigarette smuggler, was killed in March 2016, and Noel "Duck Egg" Kirwan was shot dead that December. Neither man was involved with the Hutch gang. They were killed merely for their association with Gerry Hutch. Two other victims, Martin O'Rourke and Trevor O'Neill, were innocent men killed by Kinahan gang members in cases of mistaken identity.

  The Regency Hotel Shooting in Dublin in 2016 left three people shot. David Byrne, a 32-year-old Kinahan associate, was killed. Kinahan was the reported target, and the Garda Síochána believed he escaped by jumping out of a window. He has also been the target of at least one other assassination attempt.

  In October 2022, the head of the Garda Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau stated in an affidavit to the High Court that Kinahan had "sanctioned a number of murders" during the feud. The statement came in a Criminal Assets Bureau case in which the judge ordered properties seized as the proceeds of crime.

  The Regency shooting would soon echo in the boxing business, where Kinahan's name was already attached to a management company.

  3233343914

• 5. Boxing Adviser

  ›

  In 2012, in Marbella, Kinahan founded a company with the Irish boxer Matthew Macklin. It was originally named MGM and became known as MTK Global. The company went on to sign world-class fighters, including Tyson Fury and Darren Till.

  In February 2017, in the wake of the Regency shooting, MTK Global claimed to have cut its ties with Kinahan. He nevertheless remained a prominent figure in international boxing, acting as an advisor and matchmaker for Fury.

  On the 10th of June 2020, it was reported that Fury and Anthony Joshua had agreed in principle to a two-fight deal. Pundits touted it as the "biggest fight in British boxing history". Fury publicly thanked Kinahan: "Big shout-out Dan, he got this done, literally over the line, two-fight deal, Tyson Fury versus Anthony Joshua next year."

  The Irish government expressed its "outrage" that Kinahan had been involved in brokering the proposed agreement. He was named in the Dáil Éireann, and the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, singled him out. The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs contacted authorities in the United Arab Emirates. BBC News reported that politicians, police officers and the public in Ireland wanted the outside world to meet what they call "the real Daniel Kinahan".

  That same month, Kinahan was dropped as a "special adviser" to KHK Sports after just a month in the role. KHK Sports is owned by Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, a son of the king of Bahrain. The company enlisted the head of international media relations for the Bahrain government to deliver news of the termination directly to media outlets.

  In March 2022, Mauricio Sulaimán, President of the World Boxing Council, took a different view. He said, "I am nobody to judge any person." He added that "Daniel will have our full support in his quest to bring benefits to boxing."

  555565961

• 6. Panorama And Denials

  ›

  In February 2021, the BBC programme Panorama broadcast a report on Kinahan's involvement in boxing. The boxer Barry McGuigan spoke on it about intimidation in the sport, and Kinahan denied the allegations. Lawyers acting for MTK Global confirmed on the programme that he was still advising fighters.

  Robert Smith of the British Boxing Board of Control said there was nothing the board could do. The board licenses individuals rather than promoters, and its named promoter was Lee Eaton, an MTK Global employee. Smith said that "the gentleman is not licensed by the British Boxing Board in any capacity". A loophole in the regulations left the board powerless over advisers such as Kinahan.

  On the 5th of February, the Police Service of Northern Ireland announced that the Panorama team had been threatened. One journalist was forced to leave his home in Northern Ireland. His family was moved to a secure location under police protection because of a threat to his life.

  On the 7th of February 2021, the boxer Billy Joe Saunders, who employs Kinahan as an adviser, messaged the journalist Nicola Tallant on Twitter. He challenged her to "write something positive about Daniel Kinahan" in return for a face-to-face interview with Kinahan. Tallant, who writes for the Sunday World, rejected the offer.

  On the 8th of February 2021, Kinahan issued a statement to Talksport in the UK. He denied being part of any criminal organisation and denied making threats to a journalist, and he confirmed he was still involved in boxing. He called the programme "a rehash of unsubstantiated allegations that have been made previously on many occasions". He also criticised the Special Criminal Court, although it was the High Court that had named him a very senior figure in organised crime. He said he had no convictions. He has never contested findings of fact made against him in Irish courts.

  In December 2020, two months before the programme aired, US lawyers served a racketeering summons on him in Dubai. The boxing promoter Moses Herrida had filed a civil action over the signing of Joseph Diaz, who was under contract to Herrida Boxing Management. Herrida alleged that after Diaz won a world championship in 2020, MTK offered him an advance of $100,000, in breach of a five-year contract.

  Herrida also claimed that Kinahan and MTK had breached the RICO Act, which can be used in civil cases. He alleged that Kinahan founded MTK Global as a "front business" to launder proceeds of drug trafficking. Despite claims that Kinahan had left, Herrida said he was still "influencing and controlling" it. Kinahan had to file a response with the United States District Court for the Central District of California or face a default judgment.

  6364657073

• 7. Following The Money

  ›

  On the 29th of January 2015, Gardaí searched a house in the Coldwater Lakes area of Saggart. They found evidence that Daniel Kinahan had lived there, including a passport in his name and an Aer Lingus baggage sticker also bearing it. An iPad held a Ryanair boarding pass in the name of his younger brother Christopher. Documents relating to James Quinn, who is in jail in Spain on murder charges, were also there. Matthew Macklin was in the house during the search, alongside items belonging to MTK Global. The Criminal Assets Bureau tried to contact Kinahan about the house, but he did not reply.

  In 2022, the High Court heard that Kinahan and Thomas "Bomber" Kavanagh had given €4.5m in two suitcases to Jim Mansfield Jnr to invest. The deal collapsed when Mansfield's finances suffered during the economic downturn. He later reached a deal with them involving a house he had owned since 2014. The court found the property to be proceeds of drug trafficking. It was the first such property seized from Kinahan, and it was auctioned off in December 2024.

  The case became public in March 2022. It was revealed then that the Criminal Assets Bureau had pursued it in secret for over a year. Mansfield was the main target, with Kinahan, Kavanagh and others named as respondents. Kavanagh is described as a fellow cartel member.

  In April 2022, American authorities moved against the Kinahan family.

  4142144048

• 8. Sanctions And Rewards

  ›

  In April 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury imposed sanctions on Daniel Kinahan, his father Christy and his brother, along with four other key associates. Its notice calls the family and its associates collectively the "Kinahan Organized Crime Group", or "KOCG". Adding them to the Specially Designated Nationals list blocks any of their property within the US financial system. It also bars US persons from doing business with them. Violations, including helping someone evade the sanctions, carry a maximum criminal penalty of twenty years in prison.

  On the 12th of April 2022, the US Department of State offered rewards of up to US$5 million under its Narcotics Rewards Program. The money was for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Kinahan family members. The reward is offered jointly with the Garda Síochána, the National Crime Agency and the Drug Enforcement Administration. On the 21st of April 2022, the United Arab Emirates froze his assets, including personal and business bank accounts.

  On the morning of the 13th of September 2022, six enforcement agencies led by the Spanish Civil Guard's Central Operative Unit arrested John Francis "Johnny" Morrissey. The arrest took place at his villa in Marbella. Morrissey, an English-born former Cork restaurateur, was the first of the seven people named by OFAC to be arrested. He is described as a former enforcer and current money launderer for the group. He had fled Ireland more than 20 years earlier, after reportedly being involved in a bid to harm a Criminal Assets Bureau officer.

  His wife Nicola was arrested at the same time. She ran the Scottish-based Nero Drinks Company Ltd, which Morrissey helped to publicise. The company was thought to be part of a money-laundering operation worth €200 million a year.

  In October 2024, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris urged Kinahan's associates to turn him in. He pointed to a US reward of $15m and the offer of witness protection.

  As of 2019, Kinahan and his brother Christopher Jr. live in Dubai. According to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, he has a residence in the Palm Jumeirah. Since 2017 he has been married to Caoimhe Robinson, from the Coolock area of Dublin. She was formerly the partner of the murdered drug lord Micka Kelly.

  Their wedding was held at the Burj Al Arab hotel. Guests included criminals from various backgrounds, among them Ridouan Taghi, described as Moroccan-Dutch, Ricardo Riquelme Vega, described as Chilean, and Raffaele Imperiale, described as Italian. The wedding party helped investigators identify a "super cartel" alliance. Dutch police are investigating claims by a man known as Nabil B that the guests were working together afterwards. Messages recovered from Ennetcom servers have also supported claims that these criminals do business together.

  On the 15th of April 2026, Kinahan was arrested in Dubai on an Irish arrest warrant relating to organised crime charges. He was detained within 48 hours of the warrant being issued. Legal proceedings are under way for his extradition to Ireland. Whether he stands before an Irish court now depends on those proceedings.

  4346474879