Daniel Kinahan is accused of running an international drug trafficking and money laundering network with links to the UK, Spain and the US.
Kinahan is being flown to Dublin on an Irish military plane after a Dubai court refused to stop his extradition. He will be held in a high-security prison southwest of the capital while awaiting trial.
A major security crackdown will be imposed on the trial, according to Irish public broadcaster RTE. The Kinahan cartel is in a feud with another crime syndicate, a battle that has claimed at least 18 lives in Ireland since 2015.
Kinahan fled to Spain after a failed assassination attempt on him in 2016, and later to Dubai, from where he is suspected of having run the cartel.
