Armed police took up positions at the entrances to the Special Criminal Court in Dublin, as the plane carrying Daniel Kinahan approached the city.
On the steps of the building, journalists from Irish and international media tracked the flight online.
The Irish government had sent its jet to Dubai.
It is usually used to transport ministers, but it left the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a suspected crime boss on board.
As reporters went through security, we heard the sound of sirens outside – indicating the arrival of the accused.
The courtroom filled up over the next 45 minutes – as detectives, prosecutors, and some members of the public took up seats along with the media.
From the moment Kinahan entered the dock, until he was led out 13 minutes later, almost everyone was looking towards him – and the proceedings were accompanied by constant typing from the press benches.
Complex international investigations, and diplomacy, had led to this moment.
Kinahan was charged with a single offence – directing the activities of a criminal organisation between October 2015 and April 2017.
He did not have to enter a plea at this stage of the court process.
But his lawyers have previously told the BBC that the allegations he is a crime boss are false and have no evidential basis.
They also said he had no criminal record or convictions.
PA Media
PA MediaLaw enforcement agencies on both sides of the Atlantic believe he is a leading figure in the Kinahan Organised Crime Group.
The gang began as a street drug dealing operation in Dublin in the 1980s. From there, it became an international player in organised crime.
It has been linked to drug trafficking, money laundering, and murder.
The former deputy director of the UK’s National Crime Agency, Roy McComb, said the group had grown globally because it had the “ambition and drive” to do so.
McComb told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the Kinahan group had created links with other organisations from South America, Eastern Europe, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who were involved in the “wholesale distribution” of drugs.
He said the cartel became “the go-to organised crime group to move large quantities of narcotics around Europe”.
McComb explained they were “seen to be a threat to the stability of the US dollar”, because they were trading in the currency.
In 2022, the US offered a reward of $5m (€4.3m; £3.7m) for information about Kinahan, his father Christopher Senior and brother Christopher Junior.
The organisation had previously come to more widespread global media attention in 2016, as the result of a vicious feud with another Irish gang known as the Hutch organisation.
During that year, Kinahan was targeted by gunmen at a boxing weigh-in at a hotel in north Dublin.
Mobile phone footage of the shooting captured the chaos and brutality of the violence.
One man was murdered in that incident. During months of gangland violence, 18 people were killed.
Kinahan left Ireland shortly after the attempt on his life.
Reuters
PA MediaThe Irish government put a major diplomatic effort into negotiating an extradition treaty with the UAE, which was signed in 2024.
Kinahan is the second person to be brought to Ireland under the terms of the agreement.
The first was Sean McGovern, who was described by a judge to be a “senior lieutenant” in the Kinahan group.
In June, McGovern was sentenced to 24 years in jail after pleading guilty to two charges of directing a criminal organisation.
Kinahan rose to his feet, with his hands clasped in front of him, when a court official read his charge to him on Sunday.
I was sitting about three metres from Kinahan.
His appearance was slightly different compared with the well-known photographs of him.
He wore plain clothes, including a black hoodie, and glasses.
He spoke several times during the hearing, when one of the three judges addressed him directly.
His tone was polite.
He indicated he would decide later whether he would come to court in person for the next hearing on 5 October, or appear via video link from prison.
Outside the court, a crowd of more than 100 people were waiting to see a police convoy carry him away at speed.
The prosecution has formally commenced.
