Suspect linked to Sh22m heroin haul arrested at JKIA
A suspect who left Kenya after being linked to a Sh22 million heroin haul that was destroyed in the high seas in 2015 has been arrested.
Police on Monday locked up Ndechumia Bilali Kimali soon after he touched down at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi from Madagascar.
In a statement, police said Mr Kimali is linked to the 7.6 kilogrammes of heroin that were blown up in the Indian Ocean on August 14, 2014.
The Kenya Defence Forces destroyed the narcotics together with a luxurious yacht, christened Baby Iris, that was trying to enter Kenya.
TRANSIT TO SWAZILAND
The hard drugs were on transit to Swaziland, according to security sources in the ocean.
Mr Kimali was deported from Madagascar aboard a Kenya Airways flight which landed at JKIA at 5.40 am Monday. He has been staying in Madagascar since he fled on April,20, 2015.
He was accompanied by International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) officers who handed him to the Kenyan Police.
Officer in Charge of Criminal Investigation at the Kenya Airports Police Unit (Kapu) Richard Mugwanja said Mr Kimali was the key suspect in the case that involved the luxurious yatch, ‘Baby Iris’ which was nabbed with the 7.6 Kgs of Heroin.
“He is believed to be the mastermind behind the trafficking of illicit drugs that were destined overseas,” Mr Mugwanja said, adding that the suspect was a member of locally based as well as foreign based drug barons who are currently under investigations.
DANGEROUS TRAFFICKER
Mr Mugwanja said the suspect was a dangerous trafficker and said that he would be arraigned in court later in the day. Five other people had been charged and the case is pending at the Mombasa Law Courts.
“Let it be known that criminals committing crime in Kenya and running to other countries will be pursued and brought back in the country to face law,” Mr Mugwanja said, adding that the police were in constant collaboration with other agencies to ensure that crime is contained.
Mr Kimali is alleged to have bought the heroin laden yatch from the Kilifi Boatyard creek in 2014 and police said it was on transit to Swaziland when it was seized.
On board were five Kenyans and a Seychellois Clement Serge Bristol who was the yacht’s pilot. They have since been charged.
WEALTHY TOURISTS
Before the destruction of the yatch, police said, it ferried wealthy western tourists between Kenyan ports, Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam, Madagascar and Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.
The destruction of the yatch attracted criticism from the Law Society of Kenya, which said that Kenyan Authorities had destroyed exhibits of an active case.
A magistrate, Julius Nag’ea also withdraw from the case on grounds that the decision to destroy the destruction of the vessel strikes a blow to the rule of law.