- Police investigations show there is general panic the group could be next after the death of Kendereni.
- The region is facing a crisis of drug trafficking and consumption amid renewed operations to tame the trend.
For the past years, Swaleh Ahmed Yusuf alias Kendereni has been emerging as the apparent heir of Ibrahim Akasha's drug empire in the coast region.
This was after Ibrahim's sons, Baktash Akasha and Ibrahim Akasha, were extradited to the US to face drug trafficking charges.
They were later sentenced to 25 and 23 years in prison, respectively.
But after Kendereni was on Sunday, March 17 found dead in Kilifi days after his alleged abduction by unknown people, drug mules operating in the area are now a worried lot.
Police investigations show there is general panic that the group operating in the region could be next after the death of Kendereni.
The region is facing a crisis of drug trafficking and consumption amid renewed operations to tame the trend.
Sources say dozens of undercover detectives have been deployed to the region to track and capture those behind the supply of narcotics.
And even though police deny being involved in the abduction and killing of Swaleh, it is the opposite of many residents who claim that the police were behind the incident.
Police said Kendereni was found dead Sunday, March 17 in Kilifi days after his alleged abduction by unknown people.
For long, security agencies have profiled Swaleh as the leading drug dealer in the region.
He was a marked man in the wake of operations against drug trafficking and consumption in the region.
Swaleh's body was discovered at Kiruwitu near Vipingo in Kilifi on Sunday, nine days after he was allegedly picked up by individuals who identified themselves as police for interrogation.
The body had injuries to the head, police said. He was later buried on Monday amid tension and heavy police deployment.
The deceased had been battling several criminal charges linked to a multi-million-shilling drug trafficking and money laundering operation in Coast.
He operated from Mombasa and was said to be behind the importation and distribution of heroin to various drug dens and cartels within and outside the coast region.
For instance, on October 26, 2018, he was charged at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Courts in Nairobi with trafficking 91,738 grammes of heroin valued at Sh275 million.
He was charged alongside another woman with "trafficking by storing" heroin, which police found hidden in suitcases and a gunny bag in Kikambala, Kilifi County.
In 2010, Swaleh was jailed for 25 years for trafficking five kilogrammes of heroin, while in 2011 and 2013, he was separately charged with the Mombasa Law Court.
He was first convicted and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in 1996 for trafficking heroin.
He was sent to Shimo La Tewa Prison in Mombasa and on March 8, 2023, Swaleh was jailed for 10 years after he was found guilty of money laundering.
This was after he and his wife were found to have engaged in an agreement to buy tour motor vehicles worth Sh7.6 million on February 4, 2017, using proceeds of drug trafficking.
Officials said the convicts purchased two vehicles within months and paid Sh6.2 million with a view of concealing the source of the said money.
He was released on appeal. With the help of his family, who are in the drug business in Tanzania, Swaleh has managed to smuggle the drugs from Tanzania, police say.
Swaleh had not only accumulated a lot of wealth from drug trafficking but also through money laundering, police claimed. Swaleh's murder also comes just a month after the national government declared a crackdown on drug trafficking on the Coast.
The deceased has been working with mules who distribute heroin to various drug dens from which hundreds of youths were able to access the drugs, police say.
According to investigators, the drugs also find their way into nightclubs and some hotels where both local and foreign tourists can access the drugs. Some of the drug peddlers are also associated with criminal groups involved in muggings within Kisauni, Bombolulu, Majengo and Likoni areas.
Police believe he was the remaining head of the drug trafficking gang in the area.
The deceased who resided in Kikambala also ran an elaborate money laundering scheme which he used to launder the drug trafficking proceeds.