Ireland’s notorious Kinahan drugs cartel has introduced a fast-food-style franchise system in its efforts to continue dominating the cocaine trade. The drug syndicate has regained its position as the dominant power in the Irish cocaine market in recent months, reestablishing itself as the principal supplier to nearly all major criminal groups across the nation once again. Their grip on the trade is so strong that many gangs who took advantage of the vacuum left by mobsters moving to Dubai in the mid-2010s, due to the lack of an extradition agreement between the UAE and the EU, have also realigned themselves with the syndicate. Members of narcotics networks from Dublin and other areas are thought to have traveled to Dubai to meet with senior figures in the Kinahan cartel to arrange future shipments directly from them. Among those said to have made the trip to the Middle East is a Clondalkin group known as ‘The Family’, alongside another organization based in Cabra, which has been involved in significant drug trafficking activities, according to The Times. It is claimed that this strategic move by the Kinahans will now have them operating like a franchise, distributing cocaine to gangs across Ireland’s streets in a manner similar to how fast-food suppliers deliver goods to outlets, aiming to eliminate competition. This maneuver might clarify the recent reduction in gangland conflicts and killings across Ireland, with the street price of the Class A drug also staying steady following a significant increase last year. The Kinahan’s new network structure is believed to be a repeat – or is at least similar – to how the cartel up bulked itself up during its original network before a series of global law enforcement operations targeted its leadership. Drugs kingpin Thomas ‘Bomber’ Kavanagh, who ran the UK arm of the Kinahan catrel, is one of the major players to be brought down in recent times. He was jailed for 21 years at Ipswich Crown Court in March 2022 after pleading guilty to conspiring to import class A and B drugs and money laundering offences in July 2020. Fearing the same fate, the cartel’s leader Christy ‘Dapper Don’ Kinahan, 68, and his two sons Daniel, 48, and Christopher Jr, 44, have already devised a contingency plan should the gardai attempt to extradite them from their base in Dubai. The Irish government signed two treaties with UAE representatives which allowed them to extradite suspected organised crime accomplices last October – a move which now has the Kinahans on red alert. Security sources also told The Times that ‘Dapper Don’ now travels with a bodyguard when in public, such is his paranoia about being snared. Author Mark Galeotti, an expert on multi-country crime, told the publication that the cartel’s move to seemingly become a drugs conglomerate made sense – for them. He said: ‘If you’ve got all the architecture, the pipeline, the infrastructure in order to move the drugs and you know where the markets are, why would you abandon that? Isn’t it better to trade that out to others who are going to be your proxies in effect?’ The Kinahan’s global clients are said to include Mexican cartels, Hezbollah and Iran’s intelligence services. It is believed that the gang have assets worth around $1.5billion hidden in offshore accounts and in hidden international investments. The cartel was previously headed-up by Liam Byrne, who relocated to Dubai when Garda drug teams began closing in. He was arrested in June 2023 while holidaying in Mallorca and was later extradited to the UK. Byrne, a close friend of ‘Dapper Don’, was convicted of firearms offences by Britain’s National Crime Agency and was released on licence in January. In April 2022, the US Department of State placed up to $5million in rewards for information that leads to each of the arrests and prosecution of ‘Dapper Don’ and his two sons, branding them the heads of a major international drugs cartel.