Former Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan has said the announcement by US authorities of a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the Kinahans is a “gamechanger” in law enforcement’s fight against the family.
“I think it is a gamechanger,” she told The Anton Savage Show.
“If I’m honest I think it’s cold comfort to some of the victims and the families of the victims of some of the devastation and misery that the Kinahans and their associates have inflicted on communities right around this country and indeed on other countries as well.
“But yes I do think it’s a game changer.
“One thing I would say is the evolution of the Kinahan cartel - as it’s now called - is actually a case study.
“And the analogy I would draw is the evolution of a local drug dealer or aspirational drug dealer - which Christopher Kinahan Sr was - to a transnational organised crime gang which has now drawn the attention of the Americans.”
Listen and subscribe to The Anton Savage Show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Ms O’Sullivan joined An Garda Síochána in the 1980s and said she could reel off a history of the Kinahans going back decades. The family have been of interest to authorities for decades and Ms O’Sullivan said this week’s announcement is the culmination of years of work:
“It will thwart their ambitions to reinvent and legitimise themselves as legitimate business people,” she said.
“Which they have been trying to do and with some degree of success.”
@StateDept Reward of up to $5,000,000.00 USD for information leading to the Financial Disruption of the Kinahan Criminal Organisation or the arrest and/or conviction of:
Daniel Kinahan
Christy Kinahan Sr
Christy Kinahan Jr
Submit Tips via email to KinahanTCOTips@dea.gov pic.twitter.com/IkyLsqIGDN— Garda Info (@gardainfo) April 12, 2022
'You can run but you can’t hide'
Announcing the reward, the US Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin alleged three family members were an “organised crime group that smuggles deadly narcotics, including cocaine, to Europe” and that they were a "threat to the entire licit economy through its role in international money laundering”.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris told the family that they could not evade law enforcement forever:
“It is true that some of the apex of the organisation is located in jurisdictions without extradition treaties to this country,” he said.
“To them I say, you can run but you can’t hide from justice forever and from today, you will be running low on money, friends and influence.”
Main image: Former Garda commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan arrives to give evidence at the Disclosures Tribunal in Dublin Castle.
