USA offers Sh233million bounty on two suspects over drug, wildlife trafficking
The United States government has placed a Sh233 million bounty on the heads of two Kenyans suspected of trafficking wildlife products and drugs.
US acting Ambassador to Kenya Eric Kneedler said Abdi Hussein and Badru Abdulaziz Saleh had conspired to smuggle 190 kg of rhino horns and 10 tons of elephant ivory from different countries in Africa valued at Sh700 million.
The two had also planned to distribute 10 kg of heroin from Kenya to the USA.
“The two fugitives are major violators of US narcotics and wildlife trafficking laws, and they are wanted for their alleged involvement in an international organised criminal network that trafficked wildlife from Africa and sought to traffic illicit drugs to the US,” the US Ambassador said.
The three were on June 14, 2019, indicted by the US Southern District Court of New York. This was shortly followed by a Red Notice issued by INTERPOL in respect of Suhur Mansur Mohamed and Ahmed Abdi Hussein.
One of the suspects, Badru, was nabbed in Kenya by our DCI detectives on June 11, 2019, at the Busia border.
Badru was then transported to Nairobi and later arraigned before Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Court. Badru was on July 12, 2019, granted bail of Sh200,000 and compelled to report every fortnight to the detectives.
He did so until December 2019 when he was last seen.
Speaking during the briefing DCI boss George Kinoti also acknowledge the long-standing partnership that the DCI has had with the United States law enforcement agencies.
Kinoti said it was through such collaborations that Intelligence and Information sharing had led to our institutions’ strengthened partnership to effectively disrupt the criminal networks.
Prior to the briefing, the director led Kneedler to the DCI National Forensic Laboratory where they viewed recently recovered and highly endangered Sandalwoods plants.
