Did spy games put Christy Kinahan beyond the reach of the law?

christy Kinahan has long been one of Europe’s most notorious criminals. His name is linked to drug trafficking, money laundering and a bloody feud that has left a trail of bodies from Dublin to the Costa del Sol. But amid international efforts to bring him to justice, a question has arisen: Is Kinahan working as an informant for a Western intelligence agency?

This suspicion is now one of the main concerns of the coalition of police forces monitoring the 67-year-old gangster’s activities in the United Arab Emirates.

In the early and mid-1990s, Kinahan worked as an informant for the Garda National Drugs Unit after being arrested and charged but not yet in prison. The detectives who dealt with him got good information, but…