Government officials are negotiating with authorities in Dubai to get Kinahan alleged cartel leader Sean McGovern sent home to stand trial in Ireland.
Senior diplomatic sources have confirmed to the Irish Mirror that civil servants have been speaking to their counterparts in the Middle East state for almost a year. It is part of an international crackdown on the cartel led by mobster Daniel Kinahan, 45.
There is no extradition treaty between Ireland and Dubai so McGovern – one of seven alleged leaders of the €1bn cartel named and sanctioned by the US in April – cannot be the subject of such a legal request.
READ MORE: Young Irish man shot in Spain near luxury golf club as organised crime squad officers investigate
But we have established that diplomats from the Department of Foreign Affairs as well as senior officials in the Department of Justice have been lobbying bosses in Dubai. They want them them to kick Dubliner McGovern, 36, out of the desert state and send him to Ireland to face justice.
Sources say the Director of Public Prosecutions has already ordered that McGovern be hit with one charge of murder – and another of directing an organised crime gang.
European arrest warrants have already been issued for both offences – but are only applicable to EU countries. However, Government officials are increasingly confident that McGovern will soon be on a flight back to Dublin – and justice. A source told the Irish Mirror last night: “We are cautiously optimistic. There have been negotiations ongoing for a while.
“The Dubai authorities have asked for certain documentation and information as part of the process and we are considering that now. But we do believe there is a very strong chance that he will be sent home.”
They said they believe the case would be similar to that of Italian mafioso Raffaele Imperiale last year in Dubai. Dubai sent the pal of Kinahan to Italy to serve an eight-year jail term even though there is no extradition treaty between those two countries.
Sources say gardai have been directed to charge McGovern over the December 2016 murder of Noel Kirwan, 62, shot dead outside his home in Clondalkin, Co Dublin.
Mr Kirwan is believed to have been targeted because he was seen driving Gerry “the Monk” Hutch away from the February 2016 funeral of his brother Eddie.
Innocent Eddie, 58, was gunned down in his central Dublin home three days after the notorious attack on
The Regency Airport Hotel, which was an attempt to take out Kinahan, but which saw sidekick David Byrne, 33, shot dead.
As well as that murder, sources say McGovern is also to be charged over a foiled plot to murder Patsy Hutch – another brother of the monk.
Patsy Hutch has survived several hits since the feud erupted – and the State alleges McGovern directed one of them. Patsy’s son Gary, 33, was shot dead by the Kinahans in Spain in September 2015, the first killing of the feud.
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