Mob boss Daniel Kinahan is taking refuge in Qatar – just as the desert state prepares to host the most controversial World Cup ever, investigators believe.
Sources have confirmed to Dublin Live investigators suspect Kinahan, 45, has fled his bolthole in the United Arab Emirates to the country next door. The revelation comes as the repressive state begins hosting the World Cup on Sunday and is another hit against its international reputation.
Qatar has been criticised for its human rights abuses and now it is suspected of harbouring one of the world’s most infamous criminals. It’s understood investigators believe Kinahan made the move to Qatar after the UAE hit the Dublin mobster with sanctions in April – part of a worldwide crackdown on the €1billion Kinahan drugs cartel.
Read more: Cartel boss Christy Kinahan planned to start new life in Zimbabwe
A source said of Qatar: “It has a land border with the UAE and going by road is the easiest way of getting out of Dubai. There has been no sign of him in Dubai since the spring and the suspicion is he is either in Qatar full-time or is using the place as a safe base and moving around other Arab countries.”
The Criminal Assets Bureau recently told the High Court here that it recently tried to make contact with the Dubliner at several known addresses for him in Dubai. A source said: “The belief is he is gone.”
All three Kinahan men, Christy, 65, Daniel and Christopher Jr, 42, were named as international criminals by the US Department of the Treasury, which placed financial sanctions on them in April. Their US-linked assets were frozen and they were barred from flying on American airlines. Companies from there were also barred from doing business with them anywhere in the world.
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