Prosecutors seek 10 days to detain two in Sh10 million rhino horns possession
Prosecutors seek 10 days to detain two in Sh10 million rhino horns possession
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) arraigned two men arrested in Mombasa at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Law Court for possessing rhino horns worth Sh10 million.
Feiswal Mohamed Ali, aged 58 years old, and Mohammed Hassan Kontoma, aged 75 years old, were arrested in the Mama Ngina area in Mombasa on Tuesday in possession of two Rhino horns weighing 2.2 kg with an estimated value of Sh10 million.
They were flown to Nairobi to face charges of dealing in and possessing wildlife trophies.
The prosecution filed a miscellaneous criminal application in court seeking the court to allow an investigating officer from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to detain the suspects for 10 days, pending the completion of investigations into the serious economic crimes and those of dealing in wildlife trophies, specifically rhino horns.
The prosecution informed the court that the suspects are believed to be kingpins in a sophisticated transnational ivory smuggling syndicate where their activities involve sourcing, transportation, financing, and coordinating international routes and markets for illegally obtained wildlife trophies.
Prosecuting counsel Allan Mulama told the court that the DPP is seeking more time to enable the investigating agencies to subject the recovered rhino horns to DNA testing to determine their geographic origin and also to carry out digital forensics on two mobile phones, which were seized from the suspects.
Mulama persuaded the court to grant the investigating officer custodian orders since he has initiated communication through INTERPOL channels and others to uncover the international links of the syndicate, and he is also tracing the money trail through multiple bank accounts, both local and foreign.
The court heard that Feiswal had a previous international warrant of arrest under Interpol for environmental crimes, hence a flight risk.
He also told the court that Feswal had previously been convicted and sentenced to 20 years and a fine of Sh20 million after he was found guilty of being with 228 pieces of ivory weighing 317 kilograms.
Senior Principal Magistrate Njeri Thuku will rule on Friday on whether the suspects will be detained to allow completion of investigations.
They were allegedly seeking a buyer for the trophies at the time of their
arrest.
Feisal’s name is synonymous with global wildlife trafficking. In June 2014, he was linked to the seizure of 228 pieces of ivory weighing 2,152 kilograms at a motor vehicle warehouse in Tudor, Mombasa. Described then as one of the most wanted poaching syndicate leaders in East Africa, Feisal escaped arrest, leading to his placement on an INTERPOL Red Alert Notice.
He was later arrested in Tanzania in December 2014, extradited to Kenya, and in 2016 sentenced to 20 years imprisonment and fined Ksh20 million by a Mombasa court.
However, he was acquitted on appeal in 2018 by the High Court on technical grounds.
The latest arrest with rhino horn underpins Kenya’s determination to combat wildlife crime and dismantle trafficking cartels. Rhino horn remains highly coveted in illegal markets abroad, posing a grave threat to endangered rhino populations and global biodiversity.
KWS said it is committed to supporting the judicial process and continue working closely with both national and international enforcement agencies to ensure that wildlife criminals are brought to justice.