Police believe the supply of narcotics and especially heroin that is ruining lives in Mombasa comes from one suspect at large.
Swaleh Yusuf Ahmed also known as Kendereni, is a drug trafficker who lives in Mombasa and has been trafficking and supplying narcotics creating a whole generation of drug addicts within the town.
Swaleh has been working with mules who distribute heroin to various drug dens from which hundreds of youths are able to access the drugs.
According to investigators, the drugs also find their way into nightclubs and some hotels where both local and foreign tourists are able to access the drugs.
Some of the drug peddlers are also associated with criminal groups involved in muggings within Kisauni, Bombolulu, Majengo and Likoni areas.
Police believe he is the remaining head of the drug trafficking gang in the area.
According to police, Swaleh has managed to smuggle the drugs from Tanzania with the help of his family who are also in the drug business.
The suspect who resides Kikambala also runs an elaborate money laundering scheme which he uses to launder the drug trafficking proceeds.
“He has several till numbers which money is deposited into and owns several Mpesa shops in Mtwapa and Kikambala shopping centers.”
After the death of Bosire Nyaigoti one of his key distributors, Swaleh started working with Swaleh Taim Mgoshi one of the drug dealers in Kwale county.
Detectives say Swaleh has been arrested severally for his involvement in drug trafficking and has been released on cash bail.
He has also been acquitted from prison under unclear circumstances.
There are fears of graft in his cases.
This leaves him to continue operating freely. Swaleh has hired the services of a lawyer
who represents him in majority of the court cases.
Swaleh is behind the 92 kilograms of heroin that were seized in September 2017, one of the largest drug consignments to be seized in history.
A kilogram of heroin can be used by hundreds of youths once mixed with cutting agents and hence such a large consignment can be used consistently for months.
Investigations show Swaleh has wealth accumulated from selling drugs, which include houses all over Mombasa which are also managed by his family.
On October 14, 2023 in Malindi Town, police from the counter –organized crime unit in Mombasa arrested Benta AKinyi Ogola, a narcotic distributor operating within in the area and seized a kilogram of narcotics suspected to be heroin.
Benta had travelled to Mombasa on a narcotic sourcing mission and was on her way back when she was intercepted.
The accused was presented before Malindi law court on October 16 and pleaded not guilty for the offence of trafficking narcotic drugs.
The ruling on bond will be delivered on October 26, 2023.
Police say she sources the drugs from Swaleh.
This comes in the backdrop of a recent National drug survey by National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) indicating widespread abuse of prescription medication.
DCI conducted operations where traditional dealers in hard drug were arrested while in possession of assorted prescription pills pointing to a shortage of heroin.
The report indicates that, subscription for harm reduction clinics where methadone maintenance treatment is used to treat opioid dependence has increased especially at the costal city of Mombasa.
The opioid dependent takes a daily dose of methadone as a liquid or pill which reduces withdrawal symptoms and cravings for opioids.
In the report, the medications commonly abused were identified as codeine, dextromethorphan, noscapine, morphine, caffeine, ketamine and papaverine.
The government is now looking at measures to curb the proliferation and availability of the medications in the market.
Police have intensified operations to address the menace. This has led to seizure of narcotics and arrest of suspects.
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