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, via 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 (Ksh211,150) to undertake an assignment for her. Breda had arranged for Mbuvi's ticket, visa fees, 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 of cocaine using water and soda. They then dropped him off at the airport, where he boarded a flight to China with instructions not to eat anything during the 12-hour journey.
At Guangzhou airport, an X-ray scanner detected 'suspected granular items' in Mbuvi's stomach, and he was handed over to the Guangzhou Baiyun Airport Customs Anti-Smuggling Sub-bureau. Over the next two days, Mbuvi discharged 79 capsules, weighing 947.03 grammes of cocaine.
He was subsequently arrested and charged with drug trafficking. In court, Mbuvi claimed he did not know he had swallowed drugs, but the judges dismissed his defence, ruling that he had carried a substance 'extremely harmful to society.'
On July 26, 2019, the Chinese Intermediate People's Court of Guangzhou Municipality found Mbuvi guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. His passport will be returned to Kenyan authorities, but with no bilateral arrangement for prisoner exchange between Kenya and China, he may spend the rest of his life in a Chinese jail.
