The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has dismissed reports that a Mexican cartel had been running a methamphetamine laboratory in Namanga.
In a statement, DCI said the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the lab and the suspects implicated contain misrepresentations and lack sufficient details about the case.
According to DCI, several individuals had tried to set up the lab at the border town but had been cornered by the DCI Anti-Narcotics Unit before they would commence operations.
The DCI noted that a multi-agency team led by Anti-Narcotics Unit officers on September 12, 2024, raided a 10-acre parcel of land just eight kilometers from the Nairobi-Namanga Highway following a tip-off.
“Upon visiting the site, two iron sheet structures were discovered, with one housing laboratory apparatus, including chemicals, and the other hosting a chemical store, kitchen, and sleeping area. Based on the observations of the team, a drug lab was being set up. Indeed, two exercise books bearing lab drawings and chemical formulas were recovered at the scene, alongside a mobile phone belonging to a Mexican suspect,” read the statement in part.
The agency then launched investigations and the first suspect, Betty Mukami Micheni, was arrested on September 16, 2024, at her house in Ruiru, Kiambu County.
Mukami is believed to have championed the setting up of the lab at the site, jointly with a second suspect, Agwu Ojukwu, a Nigerian national.
DCI seized several documents linking her to the purchase, importation, and distribution of the land, chemicals, and equipment found at the scene were seized.
A forensic analysis of the recoveries evidenced a link between Betty and two Nigerian nationals, Agwu Ojukwu and MBA, Agwu Ogba.
Ogba was apprehended on October 1 in Lavington while his brother, also involved in the plot was nabbed at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) two days later.
Investigations revealed that Ojukwu was the mastermind and architect of the clandestine lab. He is believed to have visited Kenya for the first time in 2007 allegedly for business and owns multiple businesses in Nigeria, Gabon, South Africa, and China. He is also linked to a drug cartel in South America.
A fourth suspect, Alvarado Israel Vera, a former member of the investigative unit in the Mexican Police was also arrested at JKIA in an attempt to escape back to Mexico.
Alvarado is said to be among two other Mexicans brought on board by Ojukwu for their expertise in ‘cooking’ synthetic opioids (Methamphetamine) and had just been oriented to the Namanga scene ahead of the operationalization. His fellow Mexicans are still being pursued.
Two other suspects, Caroline Wambui Muchira and Francis Maina Gachau, who played critical roles in the purchase and distribution of the chemicals, have also been arrested, bringing the total number of accused persons charged at the JKIA court to six.
The investigation has since revealed a powerful international nexus traversing the borders of Nigeria, India, Mexico, South Africa, and Gabon.
“We clarify that the drug cartel did not succeed in operationalizing their illegal activities in the country and that no member or members of the criminal ring have been deported from the country for trial elsewhere,” DCI added.
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