SEAN MCGOVERN, A key member of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group, has landed back in Dublin and will now be brought by armed gardaí to court to be formally charged.

McGovern was arrested in Dubai in October last year. He was wanted for charges including murder and directing an organised crime group. 

The Irish Air Corps CASA aircraft that brought him back landed in Baldonnel shortly before 6.30pm.

In a statement this evening, gardaí confirmed that they arrested McGovern upon landing.

“Following an extradition from the United Arab Emirates at the request of the Irish authorities, a male was arrested today by Gardaí and is being brought before a sitting of the Special Criminal Court,” a garda spokesperson said. 

“The male had been the subject of an Interpol Red Notice.

“An Garda Síochána has developed major international partnerships in our efforts to target transnational organised crime groups.

“Our relationship with authorities across the world including with the Ministry of Justice at judicial level in the United Arab Emirates, and on a police-to-police basis, is valued and one which we will continue to develop. This relationship has been supported by Irish governmental and diplomatic efforts.”

McGovern is the first person to be extradited to Ireland from the UAE. 

However, it is not the first organised crime extradition from Dubai, with members of both the Taghi gang in the Netherlands and the Commorah in Italy having been extradited previously.

A warrant had been issued for McGovern’s arrest in connection with the murder of Noel “Duck Egg” Kirwan in December 2016. It was seen as a revenge attack for the Regency murder because Kirwan was a friend of Gerry Hutch.

He was shot in the botched Hutch gang hit to kill Daniel Kinahan at the Regency Hotel in 2016, which was a catalyst for an escalation in the Hutch/Kinahan feud.

He was named in the Special Criminal Court by Detective Superintendent David Gallagher while giving evidence in the trial of Michael Crotty, who is accused of facilitating the murder of Noel Kirwan in 2016 by buying a mobile phone top-up for Sean McGovern.

He has also been identified in US sanctions documents against the Kinahan Organised Crime Group.

Sources have told The Journal that in recent weeks Department of Justice officials as well as Irish diplomats based in the UAE had been working to make the extradition possible. 

It is understood this involved significant negotiations between the Irish and officials in the Emirates. It is believed a deal was struck and signed by both countries on 18 May. 

International operation

While the deal for an extradition treaty was signed then, the movement of McGovern back to Ireland was facilitated using a separate agreement.   

Speaking today during the Police and Community Safety Authority meeting in Dublin, Deputy Garda Commissioner Shawna Coxon said the extradition followed not just a garda investigation, but an international police probe.

Coxon said that she was limited in the extent of what she could say as it was an ongoing operation, but explained that it involved international police and diplomatic work.

“I want to acknowledge that this is another significant development in our ongoing work with international law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle transnational organised crime gangs.

“This work has involved extensive meetings by senior guard officers here and abroad with international law enforcement partners, as well as highly detailed and intricate investigative work with those partners.

“This has been supported by our network of garda liaison officers stationed in key locations abroad,” she said. 

Coxon said that the gardaí had worked closely with the Department of Justice, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Director of Pubic Prosecutions.

She added: “I want to particularly thank the Ministry of Justice at a judicial level in the United Arab Emirates and our police to police cooperation globally is critical to the dismantling of organized crime, transnational organized crime.

“Gangs cause misery to communities, not only in Ireland, but throughout the world. They engage in murder, human trafficking and drug dealing. Tackling these gangs not only makes Ireland safer, but all the other countries they operate in as well,” she added. 

Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said Ireland and the UAE have worked together in recent years to advance criminal investigations into serious and organised crime. 

“That strong cooperation was further strengthened by the decision to deploy a Garda Liaison Officer to Abu Dhabi last year and the negotiation of bilateral treaties on extradition and mutual legal assistance, both of which entered into force on Sunday 18 May,” he said. 

“These developments result from tireless work by An Garda Síochána and officials in my own Department with their UAE counterparts, supported by their colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and other agencies.”.

O’Callaghan said it “clearly demonstrates that this government will work through the necessary steps to pursue organised crime groups inflicting misery on our communities”.

He thanked the Emirati Minister of Justice and the Dubai Police for “their ongoing engagement and commitment to strengthening judicial and police-to-police cooperation on criminal matters in our efforts to combat the global threat of organised crime.”