A court Thursday jailed businesswoman Joyce Akinyi for 25 years for trafficking of Sh5.6 million.
Her co-accused Paulin Kalala was jailed for 10 years and will pay a fine Sh9 million.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had secured a conviction against the two and two accomplices in a high-profile drug trafficking case, prosecuted at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) courts. Akinyi, along with her co-conspirators Kalala, a Congolese national, and Peres Ochieng, was found to have masterminded the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs.
In addition to the drug trafficking charges, Joyce Akinyi was also convicted for possessing a passport without a valid explanation, further complicating her criminal activities.
The court proceedings went on in the absence of Peres Ochieng, who absconded after being placed on her defence.
In Count One, where the accused were found guilty of trafficking in narcotics, Akinyi was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment and a fine of Sh9,018,000, while Kalala was handed a 10-year sentence and a similar fine.
In Count Two, Peres Ochieng, who remains at large with a warrant of arrest issued against her, was handed a 25-year sentence after she was found guilty of trafficking in narcotics and also ordered to pay a fine of Sh7,927,740.
She will serve her sentence upon her arrest.
Further, Akinyi was found guilty of possession of a passport without a valid explanation and sentenced to two years in prison.
She will serve the two sentences concurrently.