Show Notes
IN the decade since the murder of gangland figure David Byrne at Dublin’s Regency Hotel, the Kinahan Cartel’s international business has only grown bigger. But while the Dubai-based gangsters continue to grow their global cocaine and money laundering ops, a series of devastating setbacks has left Daniel Kinahan living in fear.
The Kinahans podcast told the story of Cartel’s rise into a global drugs behemoth under the stewardship of the Dapper Don, Christy Kinahan. By 2022, all of that was supposed to be coming to an end.
Kinahans Downfall takes up the story of the Irish mob’s unlikely growth in the face of crippling US sanctions and a collective $15million bounty on the heads of Christy Snr, and his sons Daniel and Christopher Jr.
But while their lucrative alliances with Iran, Hezbollah and the South American drugs cartels put them at the very front and centre of transnational crime, their Irish operations have been devastated.
Using reconstructed garda wire taps, this podcast goes to the heart of the State blitz on a mob which waged war on the streets from 2016 to 2018. A crackdown that saw its woefully unsuitable kill teams - directed from Dubai - taken down one by one.
The mob’s international exploits masked its unravelling at home - but as we enter 2026 it’s become painfully clear to its leadership that dramatic change is afoot. In Ireland, the DPP could push the button at any time on charges against Daniel Kinahan which would see him extradited back home.
With America on the rampage against cartels, it’s never been more dangerous to be in the transnational narco business. And Dubai, for so long the harbourer of crime lords, has finally run out of patience with its guests.
Is 2026 the year it all comes crashing down?
Kinahans Downfall starts January 28 2026 on all podcast platforms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Kinahans Downfall
As Sean McGovern prepares to spend the best years of his life in prison, this episode reflects on the police work which took him down, and the response of the Kirwan family to his crimes.
THE family of Noel Kirwan has never spoken publicly about his life, and his murder at the hands of the Kinahan Cartel. Until now.
In 1992, Frank McCann tried to kill his wife and child four times to keep a dark secret from coming out. The swim coach had secretly fathered a child with a special needs teenager in 1987, just months after marrying Esther O’Brien.
In the last episode of season 2, we look at the unbelievable story of Gerry Hutch, who was cleared in 2023 of the murder of David Byrne and then embarked on an even more unlikely path.
Episode 9 looks at how the Kinahans took over an Irish prison - and what its locked up foot soldiers did next.