NAME/ The Albanian HEAD of the "TITO and DINO" gang, arrested in Dubai, reaches an agreement with the Dutch: "The Bunker Trial"!

The partner of the well-known Kinahan cartel, Balkan mafia boss Edin Gacanin , is reported to have reached an agreement with Dutch prosecutors and was sentenced to 7 years in prison there.

The Bosnian, described as one of the world's most prolific drug traffickers by US authorities, was wanted for smuggling 2,400 kilograms of cocaine, according to Dutch media outlet NCR.

He was also fined 1 million euros as part of the details of his sentence, which were in an anonymous ruling by a court in Rotterdam last month.

A spokesman for the Public Prosecution Service confirmed the sentence while his lawyers declined to comment when contacted by NCR.

He was arrested in November 2022 in Dubai after his extradition was requested by the Netherlands. However, he was released a few months later after a deal with Dubai authorities fell through, claiming the Dutch had not submitted extradition documents on time.

NCR reports that secret discussions began between the Dutch Public Prosecution Service and Gacanin's lawyers. In the deal, he waived his right to a full trial in exchange for a reduced sentence, and the hearing was set for Nov. 1, 2023. Gacanin appeared via remote connection for the trial.

In March of this year, Gacanin was described as " one of the world's most prolific drug traffickers " in a release from the US Treasury.

He was the head of a Bosnian-Dutch gang, known as the " Tito and Dino " gang, who were involved in cocaine smuggling from South America to Europe.

In the statement at the time by US authorities, they cited Gacanin's ties to the Kinahan Organized Crime Group.

Gacanin was one of the Cartel members at Daniel Kinahan 's 2017 wedding at the Burj al Arab hotel in Dubai along with Italian mafia figure Raffaele Imperiale and Dutch-Moroccan mafia boss Ridouan Taghi.

"Edin Gacanin is one of the most prolific drug traffickers in the world. Originally from Sarajevo, Gacanin is the leader of the 'Tito and Dino' cartel, which includes his family members and friends from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to multi-country narcotics trafficking efforts, the Gacanin cartel is involved in money laundering and is closely associated with the Kinahan Organized Crime Group, an international criminal organization previously designated by OFAC for its role as a significant transnational crime.” – said the US Treasury OFAC this year.

His arrest in November last year was part of a wider multinational Europol police operation against the gang.

But just two months after his arrest, Gacanin was released on bail, despite efforts by authorities in the Netherlands to extradite him.

Dubai Extradition Requests

Christy Kinahan Sr. and his sons Daniel and Christy Jr., for whom US authorities have offered a $5 million reward each, are believed to still be in Dubai.

Their trusted lieutenant Sean McGovern, who is wanted in Ireland, is also in Dubai and is yet to be extradited despite arrest warrants issued by Ireland. Christy Kinahan Jr. is also wanted by authorities.

This week it emerged that Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee is expected to seek Cabinet approval to begin formal extradition negotiations with the United Arab Emirates. There have been ongoing talks between Ireland and the United Arab Emirates about extraditing gang leaders to Ireland, where they can be brought before the courts.

Rafaelle Imperiale, who had been on the run for five years, was arrested in Dubai in August 2021 and extradited to Italy in March 2022.

Italy's extradition request was initially rejected, but after the Italian justice minister flew to Dubai to hand in a new extradition request in person, it was granted. Imperiale began cooperating with Italian authorities and recently gave up an artificial island in Dubai in hopes of further reducing his sentence.

In December 2019, the Dutch boss of the Moroccan mafia in the Netherlands, Riduoan Taghi, was arrested and soon after extradited to the Netherlands where his trial for ordering the murders continues.

" Bunker's trial " has been fraught with controversy, including the firing of his lawyer and the ordering of the death of a Dutch journalist./Hashtag