Dubai dubbed new ‘Costa del Crime’ where money talks and British gangsters flock

They used to bunker down in the Costa del Sol and British gangsters are still lapping up the sun — but these days their choice of hideaway is Dubai.

The city with a tower-filled skyline, a Ferrari in every car park and a sparkling nightlife hides a dark underbelly of expat crooks, drug dealing and money laundering.

A Sunday Mirror probe today reveals reports of airport suitcases full of money and shady business deals — while those in the know use corrupt influence to evade the law.

It is a city where cash is king and extradition is rare… perfect for the runaway crook.

Middle East crime expert Dr Christopher Davidson spent six years in the United Arab Emirates city and says: “The old joke was that there were more Brit gangsters in the average bar than at a Pentonville prison roll call.

“The number of people on the run in Dubai has definitely increased in recent years.

“In the past it was people fleeing debts, but there has been a trend for major crime figures to move there. Dubai has replaced the Costa del Sol as the place to be for British gangsters.”

Dr Davidson, author of From Sheikhs to Sultanism: Statecraft and Authority in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, adds: “Dubai is like one of those British gangster movies you see on TV.

“It’s a culture of champagne, extravagant spending, year-round sunshine and fast cars.”

Renowned suspected villains living it up in Dubai include the all-powerful Kinahan Cartel, the subject of a Panorama documentary about its ties to British boxing.

The Kinahans were based in Spain but shifted their base to Dubai after reportedly becoming embroiled in a turf war with Irish crime rivals.

Alleged gang bosses Daniel Kinahan, 43, his brother Christopher, 40, and their father Christy, 64, even have Dubai residents cards.

They were named in the High Court in Dublin as the head of a £1billion drugs and arms cartel.

Daniel Kinahan is thought to have been in Dubai when British boxer Tyson Fury thanked him for helping to organise an anticipated bout against fellow world heavyweight title holder Anthony Joshua.

Some 240,000 expat Brits live in Dubai, which used to be governed by the UK.

The wealthiest think nothing of blowing £100,000 on a custom-made Porsche Cayenne.

They may even upgrade to the £225,000 Ferrari F8 Spider — there are certainly enough around this city, which is dripping in opulence.

The Mirror saw plenty of evidence of Brits quaffing £7,000 bottles of champagne.

At the Cove nightclub punters often spend £2,400 on Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé — only to spray it over £2,000 designer dresses worn by bejewelled women circling their tables.

Huge, £500million yachts cruise into marinas along Jumeira Beach. Hotels like Address offer rooms at £1,000 a night.

It all proves tantalisingly appealing for British gangsters looking to lord it in paradise.

They include Scottish crime boss Steven Lyons, 39 — hiding out after a gang war in Glasgow.

He was almost killed in the notorious Applerow Motors gangland hit in 2006.

Two men strode into an MoT garage wearing long coats and “old man” masks. They shot his cousin Michael Lyons, 21, dead and wounded two others.

Steven Lyons has a £200,000 bounty on his head, forcing him to use the encrypted EncroChat network to run his crime empire from the Emirates.

Drug lord Jordan Clements, 29, from Failsworth, Gtr Manchester, had a £313,000 villa in Dubai and leased a Mercedes with the registration plate BO55 NGR.

He was arrested in 2019 and is serving 15 years after admitting conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, possession of a weapon and having criminal property.

The Ministry of Justice won’t say where he is serving his sentence, citing security issues.

Warrington’s “Most Wanted” felon Leon Cullen, 32, was arrested in Dubai in January last year after two years on the run.

Police say Cullen is the head of a major cocaine ring and want to extradite him back to Britain to face justice.

Angels of Death gang suspect Radwan Al Taghi, 43, is feared to have organised hits against rivals in Britain and was arrested in Dubai last June.

Police allege the Dutch national was the head of one of the “most dangerous international crime rings involved in murder, drug trafficking and money laundering”.

Glasgow shoplifting gang leader Annette Daniel, 59, was pictured holding a crime clan meeting at a hotel in Dubai in 2017.

And fugitive Zahid Khan, 34, spent months taunting Birmingham police by showing off a champagne lifestyle of flash cars and five-star hotels until he was caught last July.

The conman, from Moseley, Birmingham, had spent two years on the run in Dubai after being jailed in his absence for 10 years over a £500,000 number plate fraud.

Experts say this rogue’s gallery of names is just the tip of the iceberg and huge numbers of crime bosses and con artists operate with impunity in the UAE.

Just days ago the owner of London nightspot the Scotch of St James said he was being threatened by gangland figures as a Dubai-based company launched a hostile takeover.

Radha Stirling is the founder of Detained in Dubai — which helps free innocent British expats and tourists held in jail.

She says that while ordinary foreigners can be locked up in the strict state for offences such as swearing — as emerged last week — wealthy individuals feel untouchable as they have the power to buy their way out of trouble.

Radha says: “The UK doesn’t generally extradite people to the UAE because of concerns about prison conditions and torture, so the UAE is rarely minded to send people here.

This gives criminals a level of protection and we also have a level of corruption which is called ‘wasta’ locally and means influence.

“Criminals can use contacts to gain wasta themselves. Money talks in Dubai.”

Dubai’s history is steeped in wealth and the Arabic proverb Daba Dubai means “They came with a lot of money”.

A fishing village in the 18th century, it was a trading hub until oil was discovered in 1966, creating huge wealth for the UAE.

Dr Mohammed Rahman, a senior lecturer in criminology at Birmingham City University, says Dubai has become a centre for money laundering on a gargantuan scale.

Multi-million pound apartments and houses can be bought using the virtual currency bitcoin.

Huge sums of cash are flown to Dubai in luggage and a suitcase carrying £1.9million was seized at a UK airport only last year.

Dr Rahman said: “Dubai is a tax-free country full of private investors whose main concern is making money — so they don’t tend to ask questions if you arrive with a large bag of cash.”

Originally published at https://www.mirror.co.uk on February 13, 2021.