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Detectives have charged three foreigners with unauthorised possession of emeralds valued at about Sh19 million after they were allegedly found with the precious minerals without the required licences.
Suspects Milton Ivan Espana Diaz of the United States, Luis
Carlos Garcia Ayala of Colombia and Manuel De Jesus Arevalo Rodriguez of Mexico
were arrested arrested by detectives from the Anti-Illegal Mining and Smuggling
Investigations (AIMSI) unit on June 30.
According to investigators, the three were found in
possession of 74 grammes of raw emeralds.
Preliminary investigations established that the suspects did
not have documentation showing the origin of the minerals and lacked a mineral
dealer's or trading licence issued by the State Department for Mining.
The trio was arraigned before the Chief Magistrate's Court
in Kibera, where they were charged with dealing in minerals without a valid
dealer's licence and unauthorised possession of precious minerals.
They pleaded not guilty to both charges.
The court released each accused on a bond of Sh500,000 with
a surety of a similar amount or an alternative cash bail of Sh200,000 and one
contact person. The court also ordered them to deposit their passports in court
pending the hearing of the case.
The DCI said the prosecution is part of ongoing efforts to
curb illegal mining and enforce compliance with Kenya's mining laws.
