Kenyan with Sh119.9m bounty wanted in US over poaching extradition case starts – Business Daily
Mr Abdi Hussein Ahmed, a Kenyan wanted in the United States (US) for wildlife and drug trafficking will this morning be presented before a city court after his arrest in Meru early this month.
Mr Ahmed had a bounty of up to Sh119.9 million ($1 million) for his capture and was arrested by detectives in a rented room in Maua, Meru county, where he has been hiding. Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said the fugitive was arrested after a tipoff.
The Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji will present him in court where extradition proceedings will commence. He is wanted in the US to face several charges.
His accomplice, Badru Abdul Aziz Saleh was arrested in May and has since been extradited to the US.
Mr Ahmed was indicted by a US court alongside Moazu Kromah, aka “Ayoub,” aka “Ayuba,” aka “Kampala Man;” Amara Cherif, aka “Bamba Issiaka;” and Mansur Mohamed Surur, aka “Mansour,” for participating in a conspiracy to traffic in Rhinoceros horns and Elephant ivory, both protected wildlife species, valued at more than ShSh839.3 million ($7 million).
The suspects were involved in the illegal poaching of more than 35 rhinoceros and more than 100 elephants. Their indictment followed a joint investigation of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
They are alleged to have distributed and possessed with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years imprisonment.
In June, Mansur, also a Kenyan pleaded guilty to poaching charges before a New York court and his accomplices made Sh864.8 million in seven years from the illegal sale of ivory and rhinoceros horns.
Mansur pleaded guilty to conspiring to traffic in rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory, both endangered wildlife species, which involved the illegal poaching of more than approximately 35 rhinocerous and more than 100 elephants.
The Kenyan who was extradited to the USA in January, admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and another count of conspiracy to distribute and possess, with intent to distribute, one kg or more of heroin, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Documents from the Manhattan federal court showed that Mr Surur and his accomplices- Liberian Moazu Kromah and Amara Cherif from Guinea made at least Sh397.3 million from the sale of 190 kgs of rhino horns and Sh467.5 million from the approximately 10 tonnes of trafficked ivory.
“In total, the estimated average retail value of the rhinoceros horn involved in the conspiracy was at least approximately Sh407.66 million ($3.4 million), and the estimated average retail value of the elephant ivory involved in the conspiracy was at least approximately $4 million,” Mr Damian Williams, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a statement.
A trade involving endangered or threatened species is a violation of the Kenyan and US laws, as well as international treaties.
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