Cops have dismantled a cartel linked to mob boss Daniel Kinahan — that controlled a third of all cocaine sold in Europe, it has emerged.
Sources have confirmed to Dublin Live that the leaders of the massive gang — called a Super Cartel by international investigators — had close associations with Irish gangster Kinahan, 45. “Kinahan has links and associations with the bosses,” a senior source confirmed last night. “He knows them and is close to them,” the source added.
News of Kinahan’s links to the international mob case as European policing agency Europol revealed it had smashed the cartel — which is headquartered in Dubai. That is the same place where Kinahan — who is now believed to be sheltering in neighbouring Qatar — has his own massive, €1 billion drugs operation.
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And that Dubai authorities worked with Europol to take down the super cartel has revived hopes that they will work with the same investigators to smash Kinahan’s operations there. “The net is closing in on Kinahan and this operation shows that,” a source said last night.
“Dubai was for many years a safe haven for him and other major players, but there has been enhanced cooperation and this is bad news for people like Kinahan. They are running out of road.”
Spanish cops have described one of the leaders of the “macro criminal organisation” as a British national who fled his former base on the Costa del Sol for the United Arab Emirates city after a kidnap attempt. The Civil Guard, one of the police forces involved in the operation coordinated by Europol, revealed yesterday 49 people had been arrested in Spain, France, Belgium, Holland and Dubai.
They said police had dismantled a “European cocaine super cartel” controlled by Dubai-based drug lords who thought they were beyond the reach of the law. A spokesman for the force said: “Seven are considered High-Value Targets (HVTs) by Europol.”
He revealed that the Spanish part of the operation, dubbed Operation Faukas, had begun when officers seized a container containing nearly 700 kilos of cocaine in the port of Valencia in March 2020. Officers made no arrests. However, the spokesman added: “This [seizure] gave rise to a large interchange of information, under the Europol umbrella, with other countries’ police forces which resulted in the identification of the people in charge of the introduction of the drugs into the container as well as the ‘contamination’ of the container at the port of origin in Panama.
“During the probe investigators were able to establish that a criminal organisation was smuggling containers with cocaine inside through the ports of Barcelona, Valencia and Algeciras. At the same time a complex real estate business set-up had been created on the Costa del Sol to launder the proceeds of the profits obtained from the drug-smuggling.
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“The leader of this organisation was identified as a British man linked to the Costa del Sol who had to leave Spain and move to Dubai after he was the subject of a kidnap attempt. From Dubai he continued to direct and coordinate the organisation’s criminal activities, while at the same time maintaining drug-trafficking contacts and business interests with the rest of the drug lords based in this emirate city.”
Police launched raids and made arrests across Europe and in Dubai between November 8 and 19. Spanish police are calling the operation, coordinated by Europol as part of an international operation codenamed Desert Light, “historic”.
Police from several European countries including Britain as well as the United States were involved. The spokesman for the Civil Guard said: “Forty-nine people in Spain, France, Belgium, Holland and Dubai have been arrested and among them there are seven people considered by Europol to be High-Value Targets [HVTs].
“With this operation a historic feat has been achieved in the fight against global drugs-trafficking. The police actions in Dubai, culminating with the simultaneous detentions of six HVTs who were there because they felt sure they could avoid arrest, is unprecedented.
“For months the Civil Guard has been working in a close and coordinated way with the Dubai Police within the framework of Operation Faukas. From Dubai the leaders of this mega cartel controlled and directed the criminal activities of the different cells with the conviction that they were living in a sanctuary where they felt untouchable.”
The spokesman continued: “With this international effort by all the agencies involved, a firm message is being sent to criminal organisations, in the sense that no place is safe for those who try to avoid justice.”
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