This archive report was first published on 15 August 2019.
Published on August 15, 2019, the US government has informed the Kenyan government of its intention to charge several high-ranking officials, including a prominent city lawyer, in US courts on drugs-related charges.
The suspects, who also include a former senior official in the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and several government officials, were named during court proceedings in the US by former Mombasa-based drug lords Baktash and Ibrahim Akasha.
The Akasha brothers confessed to bribing officials in Kenya, Tanzania, and other countries to ensure their drugs moved across borders without scrutiny.
A senior government official stated that the lawyer ferried bribes to several individuals in the criminal justice system to ensure the Akasha brothers never set foot in an American court over drug trafficking charges.
The extraditions could be made as early as next month once American and Kenyan investigators tie up the loose ends on evidence based on the contents of the plea bargain between the Akasha brothers and the US justice system.
Meanwhile, Kenyan law enforcement agencies are preparing to seek international assistance to have tycoons Humphrey Kariuki and Ali Punjani extradited to Kenya to face charges of tax evasion and drug trafficking, respectively.
