Journalist Michael O'Toole, who has covered Daniel Kinahan for almost 25 years, said he thought the day would never come when the alleged crime boss finally appeared before an Irish court.
Kinahan, 49, was flown from Dubai on an Irish Government jet on Sunday and immediately taken by high-speed police escort to court, where he faced charges of directing the activities of a criminal organisation.
Writing in the Irish Daily Mirror, O'Toole recalled first writing about Kinahan in January 2002, when he appeared in court over an attack on two off-duty gardai in south Dublin in May 2001. He said it was clear even then that Kinahan was no ordinary suspect.
Kinahan's Rise in the Irish Drugs Scene
O'Toole noted that after charges were dropped, Kinahan left Dublin and dropped off the radar, but his name began to surface more frequently amid claims of the family's growing importance in the Irish drugs scene. The focus was on Kinahan's father, Christy, now 69.
In 2010, O'Toole traveled to Spain to investigate the gang and was present when Christy, Daniel, and Christopher Jr, now 45, were arrested in dawn raids. The operation revealed the cartel's scale, worth around €1 billion, with assets including tourist resorts in Brazil, luxury properties in Spain, and businesses worldwide.
Despite the arrests, O'Toole said the cartel shrugged off the setback and grew stronger, forging contacts globally.
Violent Feud and Escalation
The feud with the Hutch gang escalated after a botched hit in 2014, leading to the murder of Gary Hutch in 2015. The violence culminated in the Regency Hotel attack in 2016, which sparked a revenge rampage leaving up to 18 men dead.
Gardai fought back, foiling more than 70 murders, and the US placed a $5 million bounty on Kinahan's head in 2022, ending his ambitions in boxing.
Kinahan was arrested by Dubai police in April this year on an extradition request from Ireland. Now, 25 years after his first court appearance, he is back in Ireland, and this time the authorities appear to have the upper hand.
