This archive report was first published on 26 July 2019.
On November 25, 2018, Simon Wambua Mbuvi, a 44-year-old Kenyan farm labourer, arrived in Guangzhou, China, on an Ethiopian flight. Unbeknownst to him, his trip had been orchestrated by a network of drug kingpins.
According to court documents, Mbuvi had been approached by a woman named Breda, also known as Fridah, who offered him $2,050 (Sh211,150) to undertake an assignment for her. Breda had arranged for Mbuvi's visa, ticket, and itinerary, but did not disclose the true nature of the assignment.
On the morning of November 24, Mbuvi set out for China, where he was met by two men who gave him food and instructed him to swallow 79 capsules. He was then dropped off at the airport, where he boarded a flight to China, with instructions not to eat anything during the 12-hour journey.
However, as Mbuvi went through immigration, an X-ray scanner detected 'suspected granular items' in his stomach. Customs personnel handed the matter over to the Guangzhou Baiyun Airport Customs Anti-Smuggling Sub-bureau, which later revealed that Mbuvi had discharged 79 capsules weighing 947.03 grammes.
Mbuvi was taken to the Guangdong Provincial General Hospital for two days, where he satisfied authorities that he was not a drug user. In court, Mbuvi claimed that he did not know he had swallowed drugs, but when this was dismissed, he said that Fridah had forced him to swallow the drugs as part of the deal.
The judges found Mbuvi guilty of trafficking drugs and sentenced him to life in prison, citing the 'extremely harmful' nature of the substance. They also seized the cash he had been given and his Tecno mobile phone, which contained the names of his Chinese contacts, but with different legal identities.
With no bilateral arrangement between Kenya and China for prisoner exchange, Mbuvi may spend the rest of his life in Chinese prisons.
