This archive report was first published on 15 August 2019.
US authorities have informed their Kenyan counterparts of their intention to charge high-profile Kenyans in American courts, following the naming of suspects in the Akasha drugs list during court proceedings in New York.
Among those set to be handed over to the US authorities are a former senior official in the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, judicial officers, a lawyer, politicians, and several government officials.
The suspects were named by Kenyan drug lords Baktash and Ibrahim Akasha, who pleaded guilty to six counts of drug trafficking and bribery charges in October last year.
As part of their plea deal with US prosecutors, the Akasha brothers allegedly agreed to surrender all cash and assets acquired through proceeds of drug trafficking, which could result in the loss of nine expensive houses located on the Kenyan coast, several high-end cars, and assets estimated to be worth about Sh20 billion in Kenya and abroad.
The Akasha family was arrested in Mombasa in January 2017 and later extradited to the US, where they were put under the custody of Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) personnel.
Baktash will be sentenced this Friday by the Southern District of New York Court, while his brother Ibrahim will be sentenced on November 8th, facing jail sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.
