The wild saga of Akasha brothers met its apparent end in 2017 when they were extradited to the US to face charges of orchestrating an international narcotics conspiracy.
As the Kenyan drug lords arrived quietly by jet in New York , flanked by DEA agents – it was a surprise to a nation that had largely spent years with news of drug hauls nabbed at its coastal waters. It was also a relatively humble ending to an unbelievable run as the world’s deadliest and most well-known fugitives, known for their elaborate escapes from facing justice.
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that BAKTASH AKASHA ABDALLA, a/k/a “Baktash Akasha,” and IBRAHIM AKASHA ABDALLA, a/k/a “Ibrahim Akasha,” pled guilty yesterday in Manhattan federal court to conspiring to import and importing heroin and methamphetamine, conspiring to use and carry machineguns and destructive devices in connection with their drug-trafficking crimes, and obstructing justice by paying bribes to Kenyan officials in an effort to avoid being extradited to the United States.
Their bribery scheme was thwarted on January 29, 2017, when the defendants were expelled from Kenya and DEA agents brought them to the United States for prosecution. The defendants pled guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker, and they will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Baktash Akasha Abdalla and his brother, Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, were the leader and deputy of a sophisticated international drug trafficking network, responsible for tons of narcotics shipments throughout the world. Not only did they manufacture and distribute narcotics for over two decades, they kidnapped, beat, and murdered others who posed a threat to their enterprise. When the brothers encountered legal interference, they bribed Kenyan officials — including judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement officers—in an effort to avoid facing the charges against them in the United States. Today’s pleas put two of the most prolific drug traffickers in the world out of business, and ensure that tons of dangerous narcotics will never reach our shores.”
The defendants operated a sprawling and lucrative international drug business, which involved the distribution of multi-ton quantities of narcotics including hashish, ephedrine, methamphetamine, and methaqulone—a Schedule I controlled substance commonly referred to in Europe, South Africa, and elsewhere as “Mandrax” or “mandies,” and in the United States as “Quaaludes.” For almost two decades, BAKTASH AKASHA ABDALLA acted as the leader of the Akasha Organization, and IBRAHIM AKASHA ABDALLA functioned as his brother’s deputy.
Stanley Livondo addressing locals at Jeptulu Market at Hamisi Sub County, Vihiga County
The defendants engaged in acts of violence to protect the reputation of the Akasha Organization and their drug-trafficking business. For example, in 2014, the defendants kidnapped and assaulted a rival drug trafficker in Kenya named David Armstrong. The defendants helped orchestrate the murder in South Africa of an associate of Armstrong, who was known as “Pinky” and was shot approximately 32 times in the street. The defendants subsequently participated in an altercation at a public shopping mall in Kenya with an Armstrong associate named Stanley Livondo, during which IBRAHIM AKASHA ABDALLA threatened Livondo with a pistol in the mall.