Kenyan businesswoman Joyce Akinyi, three others arrested over drug trafficking

CYRUS OMBATI

Nairobi, Kenya: Businesswoman Joyce Akinyi and three others have been arrested on suspicion of trafficking drugs.

The four were arrested at a house near Akinyi’s restaurant in Nairobi West Wednesday night.

The arrests were made by a group of detectives who raided the house, police and witnesses said.

They were later driven to Muthaiga Police Station where they were locked up.

Police expected to nab more than ten kilogrammes of the powder but managed just a kilo.

The head of the police anti-narcotics unit Hamisi Masa says they are detaining the four for further investigations.

“We arrested them with a powder that we suspect is a drug. The powder has been sent to government chemists for further tests and analysis and we will know the nature of the narcotics,” said Masa.

He said they had been tipped off that the drugs, whose value is yet to be determined, were in a room before the raid was staged.

“Such an operation is not just a trial but out of thorough monitoring and patience,” he said.

Other officials said Akinyi had been on their radar of drug trafficking.

It is the second time that Akinyi is held by police over claims of drug trafficking.

In 2013, she and former Budalangi MP Raphael Wanjala were arrested by police at Isinya along Nairobi-Namanga highway over claims of drug trafficking.

They were later released after they insisted they were carrying maize flour that they had imported from Tanzania.

Wanjala and Akinyi were detained in India in 2008 after authorities found them with undeclared Sh7.59 million.

New Delhi’s revenue intelligence department and the narcotics bureau were investigating if the money was to be spent on drugs.

The two were released following intervention by Kenyan authorities.

Akinyi is a controversial businesswoman. She came into the limelight after a fight broke out between her and a Nigerian businessman Anthony Chinedu, who was married to her.

Chinedu was later deported over drug trafficking in June 2013.