Managing Director Christopher Urben spoke with Ed Caesar of The New Yorker about the complexities of a billion-dollar drug empire operating from the UAE. Throughout their conversation, Chris explains that during his time at the DEA, the Kinahan crime group proved to be unusually difficult to penetrate.
Chris highlights: “Normally, within a network that is operating between South America and Europe, there are weak points: someone to wiretap, or to cultivate as a source. But after Operation Shovel the Kinahans learned to be very careful about how they communicated with one another…The Kinahans and the other Super Cartel members were forming joint-investment partnerships on cocaine shipments to European ports. By sharing profits, the Kinahans mitigated their risk if shipments were seized.”
Beyond this story, Chris also helped lead the DEA’s Special Operations Division in their successful efforts to sanction Dan Kinahan after he began to negatively influence the highest levels of boxing worldwide.
At Nardello & Co., Chris helps clients understand a variety of complex investigative and compliance challenges that their global operations may be up against.
