DCI arrests murder suspects wanted in UK after they escaped into Kenya

Two murder suspects wanted in the United Kingdom were on Wednesday arrested in Nairobi’s upmarket Kilimani area.

The two identified as Mohamud Siyad Abdihakim, 24, and Tariq Kennedy Mangal, 21, were arrested by transnational and organized crimes detectives following intelligence leads.

Abdihakim was busted at AL-DAR apartments while his accomplice was seized from house No. A803 in Mideya Gardens, where they have been hiding since sneaking into the country in 2019.

Police officers monitor the entrance to the DCI headquarters. (Image- The Washington Post) Police officers monitor the entrance to the DCI headquarters. (Image- The Washington Post) Pulse Live Kenya

British officials have been looking for the fugitives to answer to murder charges, following the brutal murder of a young man who was stabbed and left for dead in the UK.

The suspects were to be processed at DCI headquarters before being extradited to the UK to answer to the charges against them.

Kenya has enjoyed a close relationship with international enforcement agencies which has resulted in the prosecution of many international fugitives.

Earlier in January, 53-year-old John Habeta - a Dutch national of Eritrean descent - was arrested in Kenya following a covert operation by DCI detectives.

Habeta is believed to be at the helm of an international human smuggling organization which operates in the underworld, and is linked to trafficking human beings from Africa to Europe.

International fugitive arrested in Kenya after hiding for 4 years Pulse Live Kenya

He was also linked to at least four different operations where groups of Eritrean nationals were smuggled into Europe through Asia.

Immediately after his arrest, he was extradited to the Netherlands on orders from the Ministry of Interior, where cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i declared his presence in the country as contravening the country’s national interests.