Daniel Kinahan has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates.
Mr Kinahan, who is in his 40s, was arrested on foot of an arrest warrant issued by the Irish courts in relation to alleged serious organised crime offences.
Gardaí said they are aware of "the arrest of an Irish National in the United Arab Emirates".
They added that the arrest "remains a matter for the authorities in the United Arab Emirates at this time".
Gardaí also said the "arrest is another extremely important demonstration of the need for international law enforcement co-operation in tackling transnational organised crime".
Watch: RTÉ's Crime Correspondent Paul Reynolds discusses the arrest of Daniel Kinahan
They said the arrest was also in "accordance with the bilateral agreement on extradition between Ireland and the United Arab Emirates".
Dubai Police said the arrest took place on 15 April.
Mr Kinahan is one of the three leaders of the Kinahan Organised Crime Group who moved to the United Arab Emirates from the Costa del Sol in Spain following the murder of his friend and fellow gang member David Byrne.
Byrne was shot dead by the rival Hutch Organised Crime Group at the Regency Hotel in February 2016, but gardaí say that Mr Kinahan was the primary target and only got away because he took a left turn and the gunmen turned right.
The murder escalated the ongoing Hutch Kinahan feud which has so far cost 18 lives and led the gardaí to focus on the leaders of both organised crime groups.
The Government and the gardaí built relationships with international law enforcement agencies in Europe, the Middle East and the United States and the US treasury sanctioned the leaders of the Kinahan gang, including Daniel Kinahan, and offered a $5m reward for information leading to his arrest.
That arrest came two days ago in Dubai following an intensive garda investigation and the submission of a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Watch: Former Assistant Garda Commissioner speaks on the arrest of Daniel Kinahan
The DPP directed that Mr Kinahan be charged with organised crime offences.
The gardaí secured a warrant for his arrest in the High Court here which was then transmitted to the authorities in the UAE.
As part of a bilateral agreement, the 47-year-old was arrested.
Senior Kinahan gang members Thomas Bomber Kavanagh and Liam Byrne have already been convicted and jailed in the UK.
Mr Kinahan's right-hand man Sean McGovern was the first to be extradited from the UAE and is awaiting sentence at the SCC for organised crime offences.
Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O'Callaghan has welcomed the arrest of the Irish national in the United Arab Emirates today.
"Today’s arrest follows my request to the UAE for extradition of this individual to face charges in Ireland.
"In recent years, the UAE and Ireland have worked closely together to advance criminal investigations into serious and organised crime, including the agreement of bilateral treaties on extradition and mutual legal assistance in 2025.
"I have spoken today with my UAE counterpart Minister of Justice, His Excellency Abdullah Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi, to express my thanks and to acknowledge the strong judicial co-operation in criminal matters between Ireland and the UAE.
"I would like to commend all involved in today’s development, the result of tireless work by the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, officials in the Department of Justice with their UAE counterparts, the Department of Foreign Affairs and other agencies."
'Does not get more significant than this', says former Assistant Commissioner
Former Assistant Garda Commissioner Michael O'Sullivan said an increase in agreements between the United Arab Emirates and European police forces helped lead to the arrest of Daniel Kinahan in Dubai.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Six One, Mr O’Sullivan said it does not get more significant than this.
"It is significant on a number of fronts. The first one is in relation to the investigation in which he is arrested," he said.
"Quite a number of international fugitives fled Europe because there was increased police cooperation among the various countries. It basically made Europe a whole lot smaller.
"They left and they fled to Dubai in the hope that putting big distance between them and the European law enforcement agencies would give them space and sanctuary," he said.
Mr O’Sullivan said it is only in the last two or three years that a number of agreements have been made with the UAE and a "number of significant people have been extradited".
He said the world is becoming a smaller place and that the message is being received loud and clear by international criminals who are residing in Dubai, thinking they have a safe refuge.
"They are waiting for the knock on the door. They are going to have to look at Plan B to get out of Dubai with a view to going to a safe haven," he said.
He said these safe havens are "rapidly reducing".
"As law enforcement increases, the global reach of law enforcement increases," he said.
Mr O’Sullivan said the Drug Enforcement Agency has a wide international reach
"The world is a much smaller place and they really have to look over their shoulder and hope that they can put distance and they keep their heads down and hope that they don’t get the knock on the door," he said.
Mr O’Sullivan said most organised crime groups "hope for the best" and that the status quo remains.
"They tend to get into a sense of security. That sense of security is rapidly being eroded," he said, adding that a lot of groups stayed in Dubai while US agencies were looking for them.
He said European Arrest Warrants, which were previously only really in use in Europe are reaching further due to agreements between police forces and the UAE.
"There is a saying that they have to be lucky all the time and law enforcement only have to be lucky once," he said.
