A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) sting has uncovered the Kinahan cartel’s expansion from cocaine trafficking into synthetic drug trade, according to newly unsealed court documents cited by The Times in its July 12 report.
According to the news outlet, the operation began in June 2022 in Ankara, Turkey, where DEA agents recruited a confidential informant known as “Queen.” The informant reportedly infiltrated the Kinahan network by gaining the trust of Opinder Singh Sian, a Canadian national linked to the cartel.
Sian was arrested in Nevada last month and is now under U.S. custody. He is set to appear in court in California on July 21.
According to court filings, Sian met with undercover DEA agents in March 2023 in Manhattan Beach, California, to arrange a methamphetamine shipment to Australia. The DEA intercepted the drugs, replaced them with decoy material, and worked with Australian police to track the container to a Sydney stash house.
DEA agents also uncovered the cartel’s plans to traffic fentanyl precursors from China to the United States via Canada.
The development comes just weeks after eight men were jailed for attempting to smuggle 2.2 tonnes of cocaine worth €157 million (£132 million) into the United States. The massive haul, linked to the Kinahan cartel, was uncovered in 2023 when Ireland’s Army Ranger Wing boarded the Panamanian cargo ship MV Matthew.
The eight men have been charged with drug trafficking offenses and sentenced to a combined 129 years in prison by Dublin’s Special Criminal Court.
Founded in Dublin in the 1990s, the Kinahan cartel is now based in Dubai and remains under U.S. sanctions, with a $5 million reward offered for information leading to the arrest of its leaders.
