Pubdate: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 Source: The Daily Nation (Kenya) Copyright: 2000 Nation Newspapers Fax: (254-2)213946 Address: P.O.Box 49010 Nairobi, Kenya Website: http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/ Author: NATION Team CORRUPT POLICE AID DRUG LORDS Police officers and members of the Judiciary are widely suspected of colluding with known drug traffickers to frustrate arrests and convictions. It is widely believed in police, court and media circles that the kingpins of drug cartels operating in Nairobi and Mombasa are protected by senior government officials and politicians. Anti-narcotics Unit officers cite instances where they have taken drug traffickers to court only to see them to be released on bond. The suspects have then promptly disappeared. In some cases, courts are tricked into releasing drug suspects on medical grounds. An example is Pakistani businessman Asif Massoud Khan, who was released by the then Chief Magistrate, Mr Omondi Tunya, on Sh250,000 bail on June 26,1996, pending hearing of an extradition case against him. Khan, co-proprietor of a Karachi-based firm, Logical Choice, was wanted in the United States for fraud and narcotics trafficking charges. But on being freed on bond, he did not go to the Nairobi Hospital for treatment as he had claimed in his application for bail. He checked out of his city hotel and dropped out of sight. Police have been accused of tipping off drug dealers about impending arrest, enabling them to escape. When police seized Sh940 million worth of hashish in Mombasa's upmarket Nyali suburbs recently, the suspects escaped minutes before the law enforcers arrived. They had clearly been warned indeed, food left on the table was still hot when the officers stormed the house. One of the suspects in the case is Mr Ibrahim Akasha Abdallah, who is reported to be in the Netherlands, ostensibly for medical attention. A major success of the narcotics unit was the conviction of Yusuf Abdallah Ibrahim, who is serving a 10-year jail term, together with two Pakistanis, for trafficking in Sh6.1 million worth of heroin. They were also ordered to pay Sh39 million each, three times the value of the drug haul. The Pakistanis had hidden the drug in a consignment of bath towels and drinking straws sent to Kenya from Afghanistan. Unconfirmed reports say that Yusuf Abdalla, who lived on the Mugoya Estate in Nairobi, has bought his way out of jail with Sh90 million worth of bribes. He has gone underground. A third suspect, M. P. Mewa Gul, escaped from Kenya after being freed on Sh5 million bond. The fact that the police seemed not to have bothered with Mr Gul's escape was remarked upon by Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Meoli. In October 1998, Ramisi police detained a truck carrying hashish and cigarettes at Bodo in Kwale District. Two passengers and the truck driver were arrested and taken to Msambweni, where the passengers mysteriously disappeared. The truck had 160 cartons, 20 of which contained Winston cigarettes which had been smuggled into the country and the rest carried hashish. Eluding the police or tying up the judicial process is a favourite tactic of the drug suspects. Italian Romano Antonino has for eight years fought extradition to Milan, where he is wanted on trafficking and fraud charges. The 55-year-old Malindi resident has been on the run since an arrest warrant was issued by a Milan court in 1992. Together with eight other Italians, he is alleged to have established a cartel in Milan and exchanged drugs with other dealers in Colombia, Spain, Switzerland and Argentina. Their operations were exposed by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Italian anti-narcotics police. Antonino escaped to Kenya, married a local girl and established himself as a restaurateur. Another hashish haul of note was made in January 1998 when Patrick Lukakha Okutoyi, Nasser Sultan Mbarak, Mohammed Salim Bahamadi and Peter Mwendwa Mwanzia were charged with smuggling more than 100 kg of hashish which was on transit to the Seychelles. The case is still pending resolution as the Kenyan courts wait for witnesses and exhibits to be brought in from the Seychelles. The accused are out on a Sh500,000. The amount of drugs being netted have continued to rise over the years. While the hauls excite interest and public comment for a short time, people are mainly unconcerned about the drug problem. The problem does not have the same urgency as among people in developed countries where the problem is much more acute. The hauls being made in Kenya and the money involved in the drug market here is minuscule compared to the United States where the illicit drug industry is estimated to be worth between US$75 billion (Sh4.5 trillion) and $100 billion (Sh6 trillion) annually. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake