THE GOVERNMENT OF the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has frozen the assets of the Kinahan cartel based in the emirate, it has been confirmed.
The Gulf state launched a financial crackdown on members of the cartel based in Dubai, including Daniel Kinahan, who will now have their bank accounts frozen.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said that it was evidence “that nobody is out of reach of the law”.
“The net is now clearly tightening on the Kinahan organised crime group,” she said.
The UAE said it will continue to work with Irish, US, UK and Spanish authorities to investigate the workings of the criminal gang.
In a statement to the Financial Times, which first reported the story, the UAE government said that authorities were co-operating closely “on cases involving foreign elements”, as part of the UAE’s comitments “for combating illicit activity”
Gardaí said they will continue to work with other organisations to bring down the cartel.
A spokesman said: “An Garda Síochána continues to work with our partners at an international level to ensure we achieve the objective of dismantling the Kinahan organised crime group. The announcements made at City Hall last week have generated additional avenues to pursue, and give us confidence we will achieve our objectives.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin welcomed the news saying that it was part of a wider international effort to clamp down on organised crime and the Kinahan Organised Crime Group.
Speaking during a Shared Island meeting, he said: “This illustrates the power of countries working together at an international level. Crime is now international and we have to work with those networks, sharing information to make sure that those who are responsible for crime are held to account.
The US’s Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) said it had no comment to make on the move.
The latest move comes just over a week since it emerged that financial sanctions had been put on Daniel Kinahan, Christy Kinahan Snr and Christy Kinahan Jnr, as part of an unprecedented international action against the Irish-founded crime gang being coordinated by US, EU and UK law enforcement.
The various measures are expected to have a seismic impact on the operations of the criminal operation.
Multi-million dollar rewards have been offered for information leading to either the financial disruption of the Kinahan organised crime group or the arrest and/or conviction of any of the three men.
Today’s announcement “shows the swift impact of the sanctions announced last week to dismantle the Kinahan organised crime group,” Justice Minister Helen McEntee said.
MTK Global, a boxing promotion company founded by Daniel Kinahan, announced yesterday that it was ceasing its entire operations. This followed the high-profile departure of Bob Yalen as the firm’s CEO.
Daniel Kinahan has been by far the most high-profile member of the gang in Ireland in recent years partly due to his attempts to rehabilitate his reputation as a figure in the world of professional boxing.
With reporting by Christina Finn
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