This archive report was first published on 17 August 2019.
On August 16, 2019, a US federal court handed down a 25-year prison sentence to confessed Kenyan drug lord Baktash Akasha Abdalla.
Abdalla, who pleaded guilty to six counts of drug trafficking and bribery in October 2018, was also ordered to pay a fine of $100,000 (approximately Sh10.3 million).
According to the court, Abdalla sought to smuggle large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine into the United States.
He was also found to have conspired to possess machine guns and destructive weapons, and bribed Kenyan officials to avoid extradition to the US to face drug-related charges.
Abdalla's brother, Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, is set to be sentenced on November 8, 2019, after also pleading guilty to the same drug-trafficking offenses.
Manhattan US Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman stated, "Akasha (Baktash) was once one of the world's most prolific and violent drug traffickers, but today's significant sentence of 25 years in prison all but guarantees he will never profit from the illicit drug trade again."
He added, "Baktash Akasha led a massive drug trafficking organization responsible for shipping tons of finished narcotics, and the ingredients to make tons more, around the world. Akasha, along with his brother, ensured that their enterprise operated with impunity for nearly 20 years by eliminating and intimidating rival drug traffickers with violence and murder, and bribing Kenyan government officials to avoid extradition to the U.S."
The Akasha brothers were arrested in Mombasa in 2014, alongside two other suspects, Hussein Shabakhash and Vicky Goswami.
They were extradited to the US in January 2017 to face charges of conspiracy to import 99 kilos of heroin and two kilos of methamphetamine into the US.
