Police hunt for woman behind seized cocaine worth Sh11m

MOHAMED AHMED

By MOHAMED AHMED
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A multi-agency team in Mombasa has intensified a manhunt on a woman linked to two suspected drug traffickers who were arrested with 2.9 kilograms of cocaine from Brazil worth Sh11 million.

The woman identified as Nassim Athman Mohammed is said to be holding a German passport.

According to police reports, the suspect was involved in trafficking the cocaine from Brazil to Mombasa.

Police say the cocaine was stashed in a black suitcase which passed through Sudan before being taken to Uganda, then to Nairobi and finally to Mombasa.  

It is believed that Ms Mohammed picked the cocaine in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where detectives have been tracking her movements for months.

In a photo seen by the Nation, Ms Mohammed is seen holding the black suitcase where the cocaine was believed to have been hidden.

On Sunday, Coast Directorate of Criminal Investigation boss Washington Njiru said the suitcase, which contained assorted cloths, had fake compartments at the bottom where the drugs were found.

Two suspects Mr Mujib Suleiman 47 and Mr Saady Bashur Omar, 59, a Tanzanian, were arrested on Saturday in Kisauni sub-county.

They are being detained at the Mombasa Port Police Station.

The two, who face charges of trafficking narcotics, will be arraigned at the Shanzu Law Court on Monday.

Police said Mr Suleiman has been working with Ms Mohammed to operate a drug distribution network in the coastal towns of Mombasa and Malindi town in Kilifi.

“The network targets both locals and tourists. It is suspected that Mr Suleiman works closely with a known village elder in Mtwapa who supervises his affairs and pretends to offer protection,” reads an intelligence report in part.

The report states that the businesswoman, who resides in a Nyali suburb, has been overseeing the distribution of the drugs in Mombasa and Watamu in Malindi town.

The search on Ms Mohammed comes as police at the Coast raised alarm over involvement of women in drug business.

From January to date, at least eight women have been arrested with drugs worth millions of shillings in Mombasa alone.

Ms Ruweida Bwanahamad, 34 was last week arrested in Bamburi Mwisho.

Detectives from the anti-narcotics unit pounced on Ms Bwanahamad at her home in Kisauni where they seized 533.7 grams of heroin worth Sh1.6 million.

Police also seized a saloon motor vehicle registration number KCN 971M, several title deeds and bank cheque books associated with the syndicate’s drug distribution activities.

Her relatives said that Ms Bwanahamad is the wife to convicted drug trafficker Ahmed Said Bakari famously known as El-Chapo while Mr Abubakar is his nephew.

Mr Bakari is serving a 24-year jail term at Shimo la Tewa Maximum Prison in Mombasa after he was found guilty of trafficking heroin worth Sh29 million.

Mr Bakari is also being alleged to have been the architect of the seized 9.6 kilograms of heroin at the Kilifi boatyard in 2015. The drugs were destroyed in the high seas following an executive order by President Uhuru Kenyatta.


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