Kinahan Cartel lieutenant Sean McGovern being extradited from UAE to Ireland
The Irish Air Corps flight needs to take at least two stops on the way to Dublin.
Gardaí believe that Drimnagh man McGovern is Daniel Kinahan's right-hand man, and the US Treasury Department has claimed he "sells multi-kilogramme quantities of cocaine" on behalf of the cartel.
He has been held in a prison in Dubai since his arrest last October and he had previously launched a series of legal challenges to the extradition process.
He is also wanted on organised crime charges in this jurisdiction.
His original detention came after protracted consultation between An Garda Síochána, Interpol and police and justice authorities in Dubai and Ireland.
A European Arrest Warrant (EAW) was issued in April 2022 by the High Court for McGovern to face criminal charges here.
UAE authorities did not act on the warrant, but a formal request from the Department of Justice to the UAE equivalent was later issued.
McGovern's original arrest was seen by gardaí as a test case for the planned arrest and eventual extradition of cartel leader Kinahan on criminal charges.
Sources say McGovern's arrest has been a "major breakthrough" in garda efforts to take down the senior leadership of the cartel.
Since 2022, garda efforts have been concentrated on McGovern's extradition because, unlike the Kinahan leadership, he is facing criminal charges.
Gardai want to charge him with the murder of Noel 'Duck Egg' Kirwan (62) who was shot six times as he sat in his car on December 22, 2016 at St Ronan's Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin 22.
He is believed to have been targeted because of perceived links to members of the Hutch family who were at war with the Kinahan cartel at the time.
McGovern, a convicted drug dealer, suffered minor injuries after he was shot during the Regency Hotel bloodbath in February, 2016, when his gang was attacked by the Hutch gang.
He has been named in the Special Criminal Court by Detective Superintendent David Gallagher while giving evidence in the trial of Michael Crotty, who is accused of facilitating the murder of Noel Kirwan in 2016 by buying a mobile phone top-up for Sean McGovern.
He has also been identified by the US sanctions against the Kinahan Organised Crime Group.
In the US Treasury sanctions document, McGovern connections with the Kinahan Organised Crime Group are laid out.
They claimed that he was involved with a cover company being used by the gang to launder money.
McGovern 'was designated for materially assisting, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Daniel Kinahan'.
The document alleged that McGovern: 'is Daniel Kinahan's advisor and closest confidant, and evidence indicates that all dealings with Daniel Kinahan go through Sean McGovern. Sean McGovern also has managed communications on behalf of Daniel Kinahan, and he sells multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine'.
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