Anti-drug abuse crusaders in the country have welcomed the sentencing in the US of Ibrahim Akasha to 23 years in prison.
The Akasha brothers were extradited to the US where they pleaded guilty to trafficking heroin and methamphetamine and other crimes in October 2018.
The verdict brings to an end the long-running saga of the brothers who were arrested in Mombasa in November 2014 in a US-led sting operation.
The sentence, imposed by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan federal court, was a victory for prosecutors, who had argued that Ibrahim Akasha had been a top lieutenant to his brother Baktash, the Akasha organization’s former leader, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison last August.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Richman had urged Marrero to give Ibrahim a similar sentence, saying he had acted as his brother’s right-hand man and had “engaged in extreme violence.
However, Ibrahim’s attorney, Dawn Cardi, argued that her client had a much lesser role than his brother and sought a sentence of 10 years.
Back in Kenya, the latest sentencing was welcomed by anti-drug abuse activists in Kilifi County with the campaigners calling on the government to step up the fight against narcotics trafficking.
Famau Mohammed Famau Chairman of MAARUFU Anti Drugs Organization called on the Judiciary to emulate the US justice system and prosecute those found culpable of drug trafficking.