He’s the most wanted Irishman on Earth — a boxing promoter turned drug lord, living it up in the desert. Daniel Kinahan’s wedding at Dubai’s Burj Al Arab brought together Europe’s biggest narcos. Within five years, almost all of them were behind bars. All except him. 

Now, as the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau sells off his former Dublin mansion for a record sum, Kinahan remains untouched in Dubai: shopping, dining with boxers, and running what Europol calls a “Super Cartel” worth up to €20 billion a year. 

On today’s podcast, Shane Beatty talks to Ed Caesar, whose New Yorker investigation reveals how Kinahan built his empire, courted boxing’s elite, and managed to stay free while others fell. They also discuss why the United Arab Emirates have become, in Ed's words, "a sandy place for shady people." And Ed reveals he's been informed that Daniel Kinahan has read his investigation in the magazine.

A story of crime, influence, and the strange safety of exile. 

📰 Read Ed Caesar’s full investigation in The New Yorker: 👉 The Cocaine Kingpin Living Large in Dubai 

 📩 Email the show: newstalkdaily@newstalk.com