Kinoo-based Narcotics Queens Arrested Ahead of Judgement

A woman and her two daughters were arrested after a narcotics court canceled their bail terms.

The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport narcotics court nullified the bail for Rose Monyani Musanda and her daughters Ann Akeyo Musanda and Mercy Uyweli Musanda over a drugs case they have.

They were arrested on the same day – August 28 – when the court canceled the bail terms.

They were arrested at their home in Kinoo, Kiambu County and are currently being held at Lang’ata women’s prison pending their judgment on September 7, 2023.

The prosecution expects a land mark ruling against the three who are notorious drug traffickers.

In 2021, the trio were arrested with narcotics alongside a Nigerian national Moses Chidi Ubah who is currently being held at Industrial Area prison.

The court ruled denying the foreigner bond pending conclusion of the case while releasing the ladies on bond.

The court had handed them a straw to hang on, police say adding the women resumed full operations and acquired two spanking new commercial busses and two luxury cars for their daily commute while shutting the dreams of many youth in Nairobi’s unfortunate neighborhoods.

The long arm of the law has finally caught up with the family as the conclusion of their court case is eagerly awaited.

Just like Mathe Wa Ngara, Musanda and her two daughters have been selling heroin and marijuana in Westlands, Kangemi, Kinoo, Kawangware, 87, Mathare settlements since 2013, police say.

Since then, each of the three have been arrested by DCI officers more than twice while in possession of drugs and have multiple cases in various courts within Nairobi and Kiambu counties.

The vices by Musandas family have been a major headache for the security agencies involved in the war against drugs.

In an interesting twist and after many arrests, in mid 2020 at the peak of Covid 19, one of the suspects went into bed with police which gave her business room to operate.

First, the local police could not touch their operational base at Dam village along the banks of Kangemi dam which is along Waiyaki Way near Mountain View estate where the family operates safe houses for storage, preparation and distribution of heroin and marijuana according to police.

Dam village is an eyesore of humanity.
The youth wash cars and immediately dash for their daily heroin and marijuana dose from peddlers down the banks.

This knocks them out until the following day. The highs and lows repeat for those addicted like clock work, in the meantime the syndicate maintained a cashflow which they would invest in motor vehicles and commercial vehicles.

Investigations show police could not touch minibuses that the syndicate owns which ply Kangemi CBD route.

The buses are used as a front to clean the bulky illicit cash generated from the sale of drugs, investigators say.

A wines and spirit operated by one of the women in Kangemi would also become a no-go zone for police officers.

In 2020, the state through a civil suit by the Asset Recovery Agency had successfully applied for asset forfeiture against the drug dealing queens that would see them lose cash and the buses through a ruling by Lady Justice Mumbi Ngugi who at the time was serving as judge at Mlimani Anti-Corruption and economic crimes court.

She lost six vehicles, among them five minibuses, after the High Court ruled that they were proceeds of crime.

Rose Monyani Musanda also lost a total of Sh1.78 million which were held in two banks. Although two vehicles had been registered in the names of Thomas Odhiambo Konduti and Margaret Wambui Mugo, Justice Ngugi ruled all the vehicles belonged to Musanda and the two were just her proxies to conceal her illegal business.

The judge dismissed the sale agreements and purported transfers to Odhiambo and Wambui saying it was an attempt to conceal their ownership.

“Taking all the facts placed before me in this matter, I am satisfied that the applicant (Assets Recovery Agency) has established on a balance of probabilities, that the assets and funds subject of the application do not have a lawful basis,” the judge said.

Evidence presented in court showed that the three made deposits of between Sh13,000 and Sh43,000 daily with ARA arguing that the proceeds were from drug business, mixed with the legitimate daily proceeds from the matatus.
ARA through Mohammed Adow said Musanda constantly changing her businesses an indication of her effort and intentions to conceal the benefits of illegal trade.

And despite claiming to be a matatu owner and dealer in second hand clothing, they filed nil or failed to file their tax returns.

Mugo said her bus was engaged in public transport business and not money laundering or drug business as alleged.

The bus, she said was registered under Latema Travellers Sacco.

Musanda said the 33-seater matatus were acquired from loans at Sidian and Equity banks and had no connection with alleged illegal trade in narcotic drugs.

She together with her daughter and son in-law were charged before a court in JKIA with trading in narcotic drugs.

Adow told the court that there is a thread of evidence showing that she was trading in narcotic drugs and suspicious deposits were made into the accounts and she subsequently acquired the vehicles.

But the woman said she bought her first vehicle after selling a plot in Kakamega and inheriting Sh500,000 from her late husband.

Adow, however said her accounts statements established massive cash deposits to her accounts in tranches of below Sh1 million to evade the reporting threshold as per Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) prudential guidelines.

During the arrest, a search was conducted at her residence and total of 796.66 grams of heroin were recovered from her Kinoo house.
Also found were cannabis sativa (bhang).

“However, despite being the owner of at least six bus coaches and a vendor of a second hand clothes, she has not placed before the court any documents that can establish the earnings from her businesses,” the Judge said.