Welcome to Dubai: Kinahan Cartel's Visas Revealed - bellingcat
Welcome to Dubai: Kinahan Cartel's Visas Revealed - bellingcat
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Financial Investigations Team
Bellingcat's Financial Investigations Team is a group of researchers and volunteers who use open sources to investigate corruption, financial and organised crime.
Welcome to Dubai: Kinahan Cartel's Visas Revealed
August 1, 2026
Crime
Drug Cartels
Kinahan
This article is the result of a collaboration with The Sunday Times. You can find their corresponding piece here.
The Kinahan cartel, led by Christy Kinahan (centre) and his sons Christopher Jr (left) and Daniel (right), controls one of the most powerful transnational crime groups in the world from the Emirates. Source: Supplied
A key leader of the Kinahan cartel who is wanted by authorities around the world and has been living in hiding in Dubai for a decade has just had his Emirates residence permit renewed.
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A Bellingcat and The Sunday Times review of public immigration records from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has revealed that Christopher Kinahan Jr, the son of cartel founder Christy Kinahan, was issued with a new visa less than two weeks ago.
This is despite his status as a sanctioned individual who is the subject of a $5 million reward from the US government for information leading to his arrest.
Our analysis has also exposed the residence statuses of the crime gang’s other sanctioned leaders who remain at large in Dubai. The records include previously unknown companies where the cartel members are purportedly employed.
The US government has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Christopher Kinahan Jr for participating in transnational organised crime, namely narcotics trafficking and money laundering.
It comes after Christopher Jr’s older brother Daniel Kinahan lost his final appeal in Dubai last week to prevent being extradited back to Ireland. He is the second key figure of the crime group to be apprehended in the Emirates following his high-profile arrest in April.
The Kinahan Organised Crime Group is a $1.5 billion transnational network involved in drug trafficking, money laundering and arms smuggling. Investigators have connected it to Iran’s intelligence services and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.
The cartel’s senior leadership – Christy Kinahan, 69, and his sons Daniel, 49, and Christopher Jr, 45, their cousin Ian Dixon, 36, along with associates Sean McGovern, 40, Bernard Clancy, 48, and Johnny Morrissey, 66 – was sanctioned by the US government in 2022.
Christopher Kinahan Jr and his father Christy Kinahan, seen in the background of a photo posted to a Dubai restaurant’s social media in 2023.
The UAE reportedly banned the Kinahans from doing business in the wake of the sanctions and the Emiratis also claim to have frozen €200 million in Kinahan assets. However, our findings suggest the cartel is still doing business in the Emirates and its leadership has repeatedly engaged with immigration authorities in the years following the sanctions.
The visa records were accessed through publicly available UAE government websites. We entered data contained in the US government’s sanctions notice, including the gang members’ ID or passport number, birth date and nationality, to view their immigration files.
Action<br>in Dubai
Six of the seven key cartel figures who were sanctioned by<br>the US in 2022 lived in Dubai. Cartel lieutenant Sean McGovern was extradited<br>to Ireland in 2025 and jailed in June.
Daniel Kinahan awaits<br>extradition from Dubai.
Online<br>Immigration Records
Our open source review of immigration records shows two members<br>have active residence<br>permits. The other two have expired permits.
Chris Kinahan Jr
Active<br>Permit
Christopher Kinahan Jr’s residence permit was renewed on July 20<br>for a two-year period. His previous visa had expired in December<br>2024. The new residence card lists his employment as "sales<br>officer" at a company named Island Star Tourism.
Bernard Clancy
Active<br>Permit
Bernard Clancy’s most recent two-year residence permit was<br>renewed in January. Like Christopher Jr, Clancy’s stated<br>profession is "sales officer", but for a company named Al Matn<br>Goods Wholesalers LLC.
Christy Kinahan
Expired<br>Permit
Ian<br>Dixon
Expired<br>Permit
Records for Christy Kinahan and Ian Dixon show the residence<br>permits associated with their available passport numbers have<br>expired.
Christy Kinahan
Expired<br>Permit
On his most recent visa, which expired on April 1, Christy<br>Kinahan’s listed employer is OSA Management Consultancies DWC<br>LLC. This firm is based at the same Dubai<br>address as CV Aviation Consulting Services DWC LLC,<br>another company reportedly<br>linked to the cartel.
Ian...