Police seek to detain three Nigerians and Kenyans linked to drug trafficking

The court is set to rule on the application filed by police on Friday

In Summary
  • Police constable Bonface Mutisya from the Anti-narcotics unit wants the court to allow him to detain the suspects.
  • The preliminary investigations have revealed that the Nigerian nationals principle purpose of their visit to Kenya was allegedly to traffic in narcotics, the court was told.
Ruling
Ruling
Image: The Star

The Director of Criminal Investigation has filed an application in court seeking to hold three Nigerian nationals and two Kenyans linked to drug trafficking for 10 days.

Police constable Bonface Mutisya from the Anti-narcotics unit wants the court to allow him to detain the suspects

He told Milimani principal magistrate Gilbert Shikwe that the five suspects were arrested in the Kilimani area on May 29, 2024, at around 2.00 am on suspicion that they were engaging in organised crime.

"They are being investigated for traffic narcotics, drugs, and other  psychotropic substances," the officer told the court.

The police are also probing the validity of passports and other travel documents held by the suspects to be in Kenya.

According to the detectives, the suspects are allegedly engaged in a multinational drugs syndicate with accomplices who are yet to be arrested. 

The suspects are represented by Lawyer Felix Oketch.

The seized narcotics were subjected to a forensic analysis, and the report was availed.

The court heard that it took the police a whole day to break into the suspects' house in Kileleshwa, where the drugs were harboured.

The affidavits sworn indicate that the suspects have no fixed place of residence in Kenya as they were nabbed in short-term rental located in Gatundu Road in Kileleshwa.

The investigation also has some of its investigators attached to the National Authority for Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada).

"The respondent were arrested in the morning hours of May 29, 2024, after an operation which included search and seizure of suspected narcotics which had been sanctioned by this Honourable Court in an order issued in Milimani Magistrate's Court Miscellaneous Application number E1878 of 2024," Mutisya says in court documents.

The court heard the miscellaneous application was made as the Respondent had declined to grant Applicant's investigators access into a house along Gatundu Road in Kileleshwa where they were reportedly harbouring the seized drugs. 

The preliminary investigations have revealed that the Nigerian nationals principle purpose of their visit to Kenya was allegedly to traffic in narcotics, the court was told.

The court is set to rule on the application filed by police on Friday. The five have been remanded at Capitol Hill Police Station. 

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