The Irish military aircraft transporting Daniel Kinahan, a high-ranking member of an organized crime group, was the most tracked flight in the world on Sunday. After years on the run, Kinahan is en route to Ireland, where he faces justice.
More than 58,000 people tracked the Irish military aircraft on Sunday, August 9, 2026, via flight tracking services as it flew from Dubai to an airport near Dublin. The number of followers steadily increased from an initial 41,000 as the aircraft approached Irish airspace. The reason for the immense interest was not the type of aircraft, but its sole passenger: Daniel Kinahan, whom the High Court in Dublin has designated as a high-ranking member of an international organized crime group.
In recent years, Kinahan has been residing in the United Arab Emirates, far from the conflict his cartel waged against the rival Hutch gang. That feud began in 2015 and claimed 18 lives on the streets of Ireland and Spain. Kinahan himself survived an assassination attempt in 2016 during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in Dublin.
According to the Associated Press, Irish police have been hunting members of this group for a decade, with assistance from authorities in the UK, Spain, and the US. The group is suspected of smuggling drugs worth tens of millions of dollars, including cocaine and cannabis, as well as firearms, into the European market, using a network of legitimate companies to launder money.
Due to the severity of the charges, US authorities in 2022 offered a reward of up to $5 million, approximately £3.7 million, for information leading to Kinahan's arrest. At the same time, the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on six members of Kinahan's group and three associated companies.
In a 2022 statement, the US Department of the Treasury said:
"Since February 2016, the Kinahan Organized Crime Group has been engaged in a gang war with another group in Ireland and Spain, which has resulted in numerous killings, including the deaths of two innocent bystanders."
The aircraft took off from Dubai on Sunday afternoon and, at the time of writing, was over the UK. According to a post at 5:53 PM, it was expected to land within an hour. The number of people tracking the flight continuously grew, reaching 58,000, making it the most tracked flight in the world at that moment. With the expected landing in Ireland, Kinahan, who is accused of leading one of Europe's most notorious drug cartels, will soon face Irish justice.
