Ten years or more for Badru Abdul Aziz Saleh if found guilty of wildlife and drug trafficking

A Kenyan court has approved the extradition of Badru Abdul Aziz Saleh, a move that will see Saleh alias Badro face charges of wildlife and drug trafficking in the United States.

The 46-year-old is currently in Kenyan custody after being arrested while trying to flee the country on Thursday, May 31 to Somalia through the Liboi town in Garissa County.

Badro together with another Kenyan, Abdi Hussein Ahmed is accused of conspiring to traffic at least 10 kilograms of heroin to an unidentified buyer located in New York, United States of America. According to the authorities, Ahmed is still at large.

According to the US State Department of Defence, the authorities have built up a case from August 2018 through to May 2019. Aside from heroine, Badro is accused of trafficking and smuggling large quantities of rhino horns and elephant tusks.

Wanted Kenyan fugitives, Badru Abdul Aziz Saleh and Abdi Hussein Ahmed pictures were displayed at the DCI HQ on Thursday, 26, 2022. Pulse Live Kenya

Seven countries involved

The countries he and his coconspirators operated in are; Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Mozambique, Senegal, and Tanzania.

In June 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) appealed to the federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York to indict Badro.

The indictment saw Badro together with another Kenyan, 62-year-old Mansur Surur as well as 52-year-old Liberian Moazu Kromah and 57-year-old Guinean Amara Cherif get charged with "conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin."

Mansur Mohamed Surur, aka Mansour Pulse Live Kenya

If found guilty, Badro, Surur and other coconspirators face a minimum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment. Badro is the last of the four suspects to be extradited as the other three have already pleaded guilty before a court in New York.

“We welcome the news that Aziz Saleh has been captured. This would not have been possible without the public’s support. Abdi Hussein Ahmed is still out there and I continue to appeal to the public for information leading to his arrest,” US Embassy’s Charge d'affaires Eric W. Kneedler told Nation.