40 detectives and six American agents conducted Akasha swoop

The raid in which the Akashas and their accomplices were arrested in Mombasa was conducted by 40 Kenyan detectives airlifted from Nairobi and six agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), The Standard on Sunday has established.

Reports indicate that US agents had been trailing the Akashas from March. During last week’s operation, the Kenyan detectives stormed the residence from two directions while the Americans emerged from the beach with guns blazing.

The Americans had posed as tourists asking for direction and did not intervene as their Kenyan counterparts raided the bathrooms and bedrooms, pulling out the occupants.

The team broke glass cases and searched toilets and anywhere drugs could be hidden as they seized passports, guns and title deeds. They also took away jewellery and passports. The team also wrecked the residence’s CCTV.

“It is obvious that they were looking for something big which they did not get,” said Cliff Ombeta, the Akashas’ lawyer. “There were several women and children when the police came in but they were not arrested.”

An officer who took part in the raid said the Akashas “were in the living room with three guests” and did not try to flee or resist arrest as the officers stormed.

Last Monday’s operation began at 4.00pm and lasted six hours as the officers, who left in 10 cars, ransacked the residence, bringing down ceilings and carrying away any powder or cream they could find.

The raid, which was led by head of Anti-Narcotics Unit, Hamisi Massa, and detention of suspects was violent and almost turned bloody.

Dr Massa however denied reports by family members that they were terrorised by the security team. “I did not see any women during the arrest and there was no violence,” he said.

But a family member, who asked not to be named, said the palatial house has never been without children and women. “The whole family was in the house. The police came from the front in 10 cars while the foreign officers arrived from the beach side,” he said.

He said the Akashas and their guests were forced to prostate on the floor, some of them naked, for six hours. He said they were ordered not to speak or ask questions. “Anyone who dared talk was hit with the butt of a gun. I was knocked on my chin after I questioned what they were looking for,” said the relative.

According to a police affidavit signed by Masda, the attack on the Nyali residence followed the seizure of 98 packets of heroin in Nairobi on November 7. Five of these packets were released to the US government for evidential purposes.
“The drugs were seized during a transaction pursuant to controlled delivery that had been requested by the US government on February 13, 2014,” said Massa.

“The request for controlled delivery by the US Government had been approved by the Director of Public Prosecution on the February 28, 2014 vide letter of ref. ODPP/cam/10/31,” a police report reads.