Monday, 8 July 2013

KENYA KICKS OUT 24 DRUG TRAFFICKERS IN A MONTH

 July 8, 2013 BY KAMORE MAINA

Seven out of the 24 foreigners deported in the last month are believed to be key members of drug cartels operating in Kenya and have in the past been arrested on narcotic offences.

The seven include Anthony Chinedu, whose recent deportation caused a diplomatic furore when the Nigeria government held a Kenyan chartered plane, seven crew members and 12 security personnel at Lagos’s Murtala Mohammed International Airport for close to three weeks.

Majority of those deported are from West Africa with many of them coming from Nigeria.

Chinedu was deported with his brother, Johnson Obina.


The CID director, Ndegwa Muhoro, yesterday told the Star more than 24 suspected drug dealers have been deported in the recent past.

"The number is higher than that and the crackdown will continue," Muhoro said.

Nigerians deported alongside Chinedu include Eneke Chimenze, Emmanuel Peter, Paul Maison, Christopher Nanyelu, John Peter Osinomuno, Ismail Adengule, Michael Olabaji, Paul Owasene, Adu Kolawale, Kenneth Chikenzi, Johnson Obina, Adebiyi Oluwatosini, Peter Sessie and Obira Onzama.

Also deported were Diawara Mamady and Komani Camara (Guinea Bissau); Solomon Haulu (Ethiopia); Jassat Esspo (South Africa); Abubakar Toure (Ivory Coast); Mohammed Dokure (Burundi); Asif Mohammed and Mohammed Khan (Pakistan); and Mohammed Kamara (Sierra Leone).

Chinedu, who has in recent years been embroiled in a property and child custody dispute with his estranged Kenyan wife, Joyce Akinyi, has also been the subject of numerous investigations into allegations that he is a drug trafficker.

He was arrested on April 14 by anti-narcotic police officers in his house in Kileleshwa, Nairobi, with 10 grammes of a white powder believed to be heroin.

Following Chinedu’s arrest, Muhoro revealed that police had applied for his deportation.

This was after Chinedu managed to fight attempts by the government to kick him out of Kenya.

The state has temporarily closed the case. On July 1, Nairobi magistrate Joseph Karanja allowed the application by the state to terminate the case and ordered the file closed.

This was after a state counsel told the court there were “express orders” to withdraw the charges against the Nigerian under a section of law that allows re-arrest and future prosecution.

Chinedu’s brother, Obina, has been arrested on at least five different occasions on suspicion of being in possession of drugs.

Sources in anti-narcotics police unit told the Star that Obina was arrested in 2002, 2005 and 2007.

In the 2007 incident, Obina was locked up at Bubu Buru Police Station but was released with no charges.

The sources said police could not find sufficient evidence to charge him in court.

Obina had been in Kenya since 2000 and was married to a Kenyan woman only identified as Wangechi.

The couple, who lived in Kahawa Wendani, is said to have been operating a Nairobi West company, Sheen Cleaners, that also manufactured detergents.

Adebiyi Oluwatosin, alias Fatai, was among 17 people arrested in February during a police crackdown on drug peddlers.

He has been linked to two other suspected drug dealers, Nelson Namuyu Mwangi and Anthony Arinze Akpa who are said to be Chinedu associates.

Namuyu is a brother of Scolastica Namuyu Imbiti, who police say is a “notorious drug trafficker" and who is facing more than four cases in different courts in Nairobi.

Fatai and Mwangi were arrested by flying squad officers at a Nairobi hotel in March. Police found 20 grammes of heroin on Fatai while Mwangi had 268.5 grammes of the same drug.

Fatai, who claims to be a businessman, had been in Kenya since 1994. He has two Nigerian passports and is married to a Kenyan woman. Previously living in Karen before moving to Langata Phenom estate next to West Park police quarters, Fatai is described by police as a “fraudster and drug trafficker” suspected of dealing drugs in Nairobi and Mombasa.

In October 2009, he reportedly fled from police custody in Nairobi and attempted to cross into Uganda. He was held at the Busia border but later released by immigration authorities.

Fatai is a close associate of Mama Leila, one of two Kenyans, along with former Kilome MP Harun Mwau, who were blacklisted in June 2010 by US President Barack Obama for being narcotics drug kingpins. Their assets in the US have been frozen.

Mama Leila was arrested that month in the plush Mbezi suburb of Dar es Salaam. She was born Nyakinyua Naima Mohammed in Nairobi’s Majengo slum. She had six passports, including a Tanzania passport in the name of Mwanaidi Ramadhan Mfundo, which she had been using for 15 years before her arrest. She is currently being held in a Dar es salaam jail as efforts to extradite her to the US for trial continue.

Prior to his deportation, Fatai had applied for a Class E work permit (usually granted to missionaries working in Kenya) under immigration file R1438440 at Nyayo House, Nairobi. Fatai claimed he was a pastor with the Salvation Pentecostal Church.

Kamara Komani aka Komani Kamara from Guinea Bissau and Aboubakar Toure from Ivory Coast were linked to a drug cartel lead by a Kenyan woman identified as Monicah Adhiambo, which rivalled that of Chinedu.

Adhiambo, Toure and a Guinean national Camara Ansou were arrested at her Runda home after a raid which netted 14kg of narcotics worth Sh41.2 million.

The raid was allegedly conducted following a tip-off from Chinedu confirming what Adhiambo said on her arrest—that she had been set up by Chinedu.

Nigerian Anthony Arinze Akpa, whose real is Kenneth Chikenzi, and who was operating from the North Coast was arrested at Mtwapa.

A search conducted at his Nyali home uncovered cocaine, a weighing scale, and plastic sachets used to pack drugs.

Peter Sessie, who is believed to be from Sierra Leone and who has been deported to Nigeria, was among five foreigners the police had recommended for deportation last December. He is said to have sneaked back to the country while his four colleagues were kicked out.

Head of anti-narcotics Dr Hamisi Masaa said police recommended Sessie’s deportation on suspicion that he was a drug dealer.

The identities of the other four men kicked out in December could not be immediately established.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-127209/kenya-kicks-out-24-drug-traffickers-month#sthash.ZZattAeH.dpuf

KENYA KICKS OUT 24 DRUG TRAFFICKERS IN A MONTH

Monday, July 8, 2013 - 00:00 -- BY KAMORE MAINA
Seven out of the 24 foreigners deported in the last month are believed to be key members of drug cartels operating in Kenya and have in the past been arrested on narcotic offences.
The seven include Anthony Chinedu, whose recent deportation caused a diplomatic furore when the Nigeria government held a Kenyan chartered plane, seven crew members and 12 security personnel at Lagos’s Murtala Mohammed International Airport for close to three weeks.
Majority of those deported are from West Africa with many of them coming from Nigeria.
Chinedu was deported with his brother, Johnson Obina.
The CID director, Ndegwa Muhoro, yesterday told the Star more than 24 suspected drug dealers have been deported in the recent past.
"The number is higher than that and the crackdown will continue," Muhoro said.
Nigerians deported alongside Chinedu include Eneke Chimenze, Emmanuel Peter, Paul Maison, Christopher Nanyelu, John Peter Osinomuno, Ismail Adengule, Michael Olabaji, Paul Owasene, Adu Kolawale, Kenneth Chikenzi, Johnson Obina, Adebiyi Oluwatosini, Peter Sessie and Obira Onzama.
Also deported were Diawara Mamady and Komani Camara (Guinea Bissau); Solomon Haulu (Ethiopia); Jassat Esspo (South Africa); Abubakar Toure (Ivory Coast); Mohammed Dokure (Burundi); Asif Mohammed and Mohammed Khan (Pakistan); and Mohammed Kamara (Sierra Leone).
Chinedu, who has in recent years been embroiled in a property and child custody dispute with his estranged Kenyan wife, Joyce Akinyi, has also been the subject of numerous investigations into allegations that he is a drug trafficker.
He was arrested on April 14 by anti-narcotic police officers in his house in Kileleshwa, Nairobi, with 10 grammes of a white powder believed to be heroin.
Following Chinedu’s arrest, Muhoro revealed that police had applied for his deportation.
This was after Chinedu managed to fight attempts by the government to kick him out of Kenya.
The state has temporarily closed the case. On July 1, Nairobi magistrate Joseph Karanja allowed the application by the state to terminate the case and ordered the file closed.
This was after a state counsel told the court there were “express orders” to withdraw the charges against the Nigerian under a section of law that allows re-arrest and future prosecution.
Chinedu’s brother, Obina, has been arrested on at least five different occasions on suspicion of being in possession of drugs.
Sources in anti-narcotics police unit told the Star that Obina was arrested in 2002, 2005 and 2007.
In the 2007 incident, Obina was locked up at Bubu Buru Police Station but was released with no charges.
The sources said police could not find sufficient evidence to charge him in court.
Obina had been in Kenya since 2000 and was married to a Kenyan woman only identified as Wangechi.
The couple, who lived in Kahawa Wendani, is said to have been operating a Nairobi West company, Sheen Cleaners, that also manufactured detergents.
Adebiyi Oluwatosin, alias Fatai, was among 17 people arrested in February during a police crackdown on drug peddlers.
He has been linked to two other suspected drug dealers, Nelson Namuyu Mwangi and Anthony Arinze Akpa who are said to be Chinedu associates.
Namuyu is a brother of Scolastica Namuyu Imbiti, who police say is a “notorious drug trafficker" and who is facing more than four cases in different courts in Nairobi.
Fatai and Mwangi were arrested by flying squad officers at a Nairobi hotel in March. Police found 20 grammes of heroin on Fatai while Mwangi had 268.5 grammes of the same drug.
Fatai, who claims to be a businessman, had been in Kenya since 1994. He has two Nigerian passports and is married to a Kenyan woman. Previously living in Karen before moving to Langata Phenom estate next to West Park police quarters, Fatai is described by police as a “fraudster and drug trafficker” suspected of dealing drugs in Nairobi and Mombasa.
In October 2009, he reportedly fled from police custody in Nairobi and attempted to cross into Uganda. He was held at the Busia border but later released by immigration authorities.
Fatai is a close associate of Mama Leila, one of two Kenyans, along with former Kilome MP Harun Mwau, who were blacklisted in June 2010 by US President Barack Obama for being narcotics drug kingpins. Their assets in the US have been frozen.
Mama Leila was arrested that month in the plush Mbezi suburb of Dar es Salaam. She was born Nyakinyua Naima Mohammed in Nairobi’s Majengo slum. She had six passports, including a Tanzania passport in the name of Mwanaidi Ramadhan Mfundo, which she had been using for 15 years before her arrest. She is currently being held in a Dar es salaam jail as efforts to extradite her to the US for trial continue.
Prior to his deportation, Fatai had applied for a Class E work permit (usually granted to missionaries working in Kenya) under immigration file R1438440 at Nyayo House, Nairobi. Fatai claimed he was a pastor with the Salvation Pentecostal Church.
Kamara Komani aka Komani Kamara from Guinea Bissau and Aboubakar Toure from Ivory Coast were linked to a drug cartel lead by a Kenyan woman identified as Monicah Adhiambo, which rivalled that of Chinedu.
Adhiambo, Toure and a Guinean national Camara Ansou were arrested at her Runda home after a raid which netted 14kg of narcotics worth Sh41.2 million.
The raid was allegedly conducted following a tip-off from Chinedu confirming what Adhiambo said on her arrest—that she had been set up by Chinedu.
Nigerian Anthony Arinze Akpa, whose real is Kenneth Chikenzi, and who was operating from the North Coast was arrested at Mtwapa.
A search conducted at his Nyali home uncovered cocaine, a weighing scale, and plastic sachets used to pack drugs.
Peter Sessie, who is believed to be from Sierra Leone and who has been deported to Nigeria, was among five foreigners the police had recommended for deportation last December. He is said to have sneaked back to the country while his four colleagues were kicked out.
Head of anti-narcotics Dr Hamisi Masaa said police recommended Sessie’s deportation on suspicion that he was a drug dealer.
The identities of the other four men kicked out in December could not be immediately established.
- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-127209/kenya-kicks-out-24-drug-traffickers-month#sthash.ZZattAeH.dpuf

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