The alleged leader of an Irish organized crime gang has been extradited to Ireland from Dubai to face allegations that he ran an international drug smuggling and money laundering empire. Officials say the gang had tentacles that stretched to Britain, Spain and the U.S. The Irish Air Corps plane from Dubai landed Sunday evening at a military airport on the outskirts of Dublin after courts in the United Arab Emirates refused to block the extradition of Daniel Kinahan, 49. He appeared at Special Criminal Court in Dublin where he faced a charge of directing the activities of a criminal organization.

Former Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was sentenced in a U.S. court to life in prison. At his sentencing on Monday, he called for an end to the brand of brutal violence he used for decades to grow the Sinaloa cartel into the world’s largest drug trafficking organization. Zambada’s punishment was guaranteed by his guilty plea last year to drug trafficking charges that carry a mandatory life sentence. His sentencing was the culmination of the U.S. government’s yearslong fight to bring the long-elusive drug lord to justice. He was arrested in 2024 after he said he was kidnapped in Mexico and flown to Texas.