Daniel Kinahan has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Kinahan, who is in his 40s, was arrested on foot of an arrest warrant issued by the Irish courts in relation to alleged serious organised crime offences.
Gardaí said they are aware of “the arrest of an Irish National in the United Arab Emirates”.
They added that the arrest “remains a matter for the authorities in the United Arab Emirates at this time”.
Gardaí also said the “arrest is another extremely important demonstration of the need for international law enforcement co-operation in tackling transnational organised crime”.
They said the arrest was also in “accordance with the bilateral agreement on extradition between Ireland and the United Arab Emirates”.
Dubai Police said the arrest took place on 15 April.
Mr Kinahan is one of the three leaders of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group who moved to the United Arab Emirates from the Costa del Sol in Spain following the murder of his friend and fellow gang member David Byrne.
Byrne was shot dead by the rival Hutch Organised Crime Group at the Regency Hotel in February 2016, but gardaí say that Mr Kinahan was the primary target and only got away because he took a left turn and the gunmen turned right.
The murder escalated the ongoing Hutch Kinahan feud which has so far cost 18 lives and led the gardaí to focus on the leaders of both organised crime groups.
The Government and the gardaí built relationships with international law enforcement agencies in Europe, the Middle East and the United States and the US treasury sanctioned the leaders of the Kinahan gang, including Daniel Kinahan, and offered a $5m reward for information leading to his arrest.
That arrest came two days ago in Dubai following an intensive garda investigation and the submission of a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The DPP directed that Mr Kinahan be charged with organised crime offences.
The gardaí secured a warrant for his arrest in the High Court here which was then transmitted to the authorities in the UAE.
As part of a bilateral agreement, the 47-year-old was arrested.
Senior Kinahan gang members Thomas Bomber Kavanagh and Liam Byrne have already been convicted and jailed in the UK.
Mr Kinahan’s right-hand man Sean McGovern was the first to be extradited from the UAE and is awaiting sentence at the SCC for organised crime offences and is currently in custody in the United Arab Emirates pending his extradition back to Ireland to face trial here.
Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan has welcomed the arrest of an Irish national in the United Arab Emirates today.
“Today’s arrest follows my request to the UAE for extradition of this individual to face charges in Ireland.
“In recent years, the UAE and Ireland have worked closely together to advance criminal investigations into serious and organised crime, including the agreement of bilateral treaties on extradition and mutual legal assistance in 2025.
“I have spoken today with my UAE counterpart Minister of Justice, His Excellency Abdullah Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, to express my thanks and to acknowledge the strong judicial co-operation in criminal matters between Ireland and the UAE.
“I would like to commend all involved in today’s development, the result of tireless work by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, officials in the Department of Justice with their UAE counterparts, the Department of Foreign Affairs and other agencies.”
