Three Kenya Airways Employees Sentenced Over Drug Trafficking; Details

Three employees of Kenya Airways (KQ) will each spend 25 years behind bars after the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Court found them guilty of trafficking heroin valued at more than Ksh60 million.

The decision to which was preceded by a long-term prosecution by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP), was characterized as a significant step in the fight against drug cartels active in the highest circles. Both convicted persons, who had been made cabin crew and worked as Alfric Odhiambo Otieno and the ground operations staffer Kenneth Sinzore Isundu, were also served with huge financial fines. They were fined between Ksh88 million and Ksh90 million, with the court imposing a one-year jail term in case the two fail to pay the fines.

The additional term will be served on top of the primary prison term. The ODPP said in their statement that two related incidents of drug trafficking led to the charges of the three.

During the initial tally, Chestit and Isundu were convicted of trafficking 9,845.70 grams of heroin, which had an estimated worth of Ksh29.5 million.

The second count was of Otieno and Isundu, who were found guilty of transporting 20 kilograms of heroin worth Ksh 60 million.

Senior Principal Magistrate Njeri Thuku sentenced Isundu to serve the same sentence concurrently as she observed that he was at the center of the two trafficking incidents.

The magistrate also denied the protesters who were seeking non-custodial sentences because, according to him, the kind of offences and the statutory provisions that regulate drug-related crimes did not provide him with the option of giving out such leniency.

The three requested the court to grant a non-custodial sentence, but the court is not allowed to do so due to the Community Service Orders Act. The drug-dealing crimes do not fall within the confines of non-custodial sentencing, Magistrate Thuku said. She has stressed that drug trafficking is dangerous to both national security and the safety of the people and, as such, should be subjected to stringent punishments. The court also lamented that the reputational damages to major institutions of the country were done by those employees who participated in illegal trade while in their positions. According to Magistrate Thuku, the drug trafficking activities of the Kenya Airways employees were a great threat to the integrity of the airline and the Kenya Airports Authority.

It is more harmful than any of them might have imagined to see employees of Kenya Airways themselves involved in drug trafficking. The verdict was received with much satisfaction by the director of public prosecutions, Renson Ingonga, who said it was a testament to the uncompromising attitude of the ODPP to eliminate drug trafficking, particularly where they find their way into institutions mandated with the security of Kenya.

This sentence sends a strong message that not even a person or a certain institution can evade the law, Ingonga said. The ODPP will also ensure that it works round the clock to guard the borders of Kenya, security frameworks, and that those who compromise national security are brought to book. The sentencing is part of the government-wide campaign against narcotics, and the sentencing is a result of some high-profile seizures made recently. The same day (27 October), though a different case, the DPP filed a lawsuit against six Iranian citizens who have been arrested in connection with the trafficking of narcotic drugs estimated to be worth Ksh8 billion.

On October 24, a multi-agency operation resulted in the arrest of the suspects: Jasem Darzadeh Nia, Nadeem Jadgal, Imran Baloch, Hassan Baloch, Rahim Baksh, and Imtiyaz Daryayi, who were arrested in Kilindini Port. Legal agents confiscated 769 packages of crystalline materials, which were believed to be synthetic narcotics, and they were of about 1,035.986 kilograms. The operation was instigated by the intelligence given by the Kenyan Navy who had raised red flags on a suspected ship that was sailing in the Indian Ocean without the necessary identification. The six suspects were arraigned at the Shanzu Law Courts where the ODPP requested that they have their continued detention; a period of thirty days just to enable the investigators to finalize investigations under Section 4(a)(ii) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act,1994.

The successive enforcement activities are an indication of the increased vigilance of Kenya in the face of increasing efforts by international and national drug networks to take advantage of the strategic ports and aviation systems in the country.