Foreign drug traffickers deported from Kenya

By Cyrus Ombati

Six foreigners linked to an international drug trafficking ring have been arrested and deported from Nairobi.

The suspects include four Nigerians and a Canadian who had sneaked to Nairobi in unclear circumstances.

Police say they are looking for a Ghanaian national identified as Paul Maison who is hiding in Nairobi and fighting hard to avoid deportation.

A Sierra Leone national identified as Peter Sessay who is part of the cartel is in prison after he turned violent at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and stripped naked in a bid to avoid being deported.

All flights that were to carry him since Friday refused to do so because of his violence. Immigration minister Otieno Kajwang later ordered that he be held in prison.

Nairobi Area head of CID Nicholas Kamwende said the men have been linked to an international drug cartel and were here to facilitate passage of narcotics from Rwanda and other West African countries.

He said the men had forged traveling documents and diplomatic letters to enable safe passage of luggage and people from West Africa and Latin America.

“We have copies of the letters and believe the gang is dangerous out to exploit our people. This is a dangerous cartel,” said Kamwende.

He named those deported as Friday Aniezi Maduekwe, Eritrean national with a Canadian passport Zemuref Zaru, Emanuel Chibuenze Onunorah, Ogba Elkana Ajbeze, Princess Temi Ekundayo and John Ozigibo.

Police said intelligence indicate the gang had been planning to bring in several kilos of cocaine from Venezuela through Rwanda.

Police staged a raid on the suspects’ residences in Kileleshwa, Lavington and South C where they arrested them and later managed to deport some of them.

Other reports indicated Maison who is believed to be the godfather of the gang in the country is enjoying the safety and support of some immigration officials who have provided him with a work permit after posing as an investor.

Police did not find him when they raided his house but found his passport that had expired visa.

Sources said the suspect together with Sessay have moved to court seeking orders to stop police from deporting them.

Kamwende said, “The work of police is to protect the citizen from any form of danger and that is what we are doing. These are dangerous people and it does not matter how much money they have.”

Statistics show such gangs and especially from Nigeria come to Kenya and settle here to use it as transit point for their drugs. Police have in the past arrested and deported dozens of such criminals from Nairobi.