Wanted drug trafficking suspect Badru Abdul Aziz Saleh extradited to US

Badru Abdul Aziz Saleh, an international fugitive wanted in the United States for trafficking in narcotics has been extradited to the United States to face trial.

According to a statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, 46-year-old Abdul was extradited to the US on Thursday evening.

This follows his arrest by DCI detectives on May, 31, after a cash reward of $1,000,000 (Sh115 million) was offered by the US government for information regarding his whereabouts.

Wanted drug trafficking suspect Badru Abdul Aziz Saleh extradited to US Pulse Live Kenya

According to a US federal indictment, in or about August 2018 through about May 2019, Saleh and others who were identified during a wildlife trafficking investigation conspired to distribute at least 10kgs of heroin to a buyer in New York.

After several meetings, Saleh and his co-conspirators delivered the first kilogram of heroin to a buyer in Nairobi.

Saleh fled from law enforcement, along with his co-conspirators, before completing the remaining heroin transaction.

He was then arrested by DCI detectives for drug trafficking in Kenya on July 11, 2019 and arraigned at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Courts, a day after.

After being granted an Sh200,000 bail, he went into hiding and a warrant of arrest was issued against him.

Wanted drug trafficking suspect Badru Abdul Aziz Saleh extradited to US Pulse Live Kenya

“In June 2021, following a joint investigation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York returned an indictment charging Saleh and other co-conspirators with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment,” read the statement by the DCI.