Detectives in Mombasa are tracking a Cameroonian believed to be part of a money-printing cartel after his wife was arrested in Bombululu, Nyali subcounty on Saturday evening.
Undercover sleuths raided the suspect's home and arrested the woman identified as Mati Hamida Tabulo, said to be of Kenyan-Tanzanian origin, and her house help.
Hamida owns a house in Nyali where she hosts foreigners involved in the money-printing syndicate.
Nyali subcounty police commander Simon Thirikwa said the fake cash consists of old and new currency notes.
"She is in custody and we are tracking down more people," Thirikwa said.
Hamida is said to head the syndicate which has been in operation for a long time in Mombasa and Nairobi.
Her husband, who escaped during the raid, is said to operate a church in Tudor where he disguises as a pastor from Congo.
A Nigerian national who escaped the dragnet with the Cameroonian is also being hunted down.
Intelligence reports say Hamida has been operating using the proceeds from the syndicate to gain immense influence, which she uses to shield other members of the cartel from arrests.
On Saturday, she was interrogated for hours at police regional headquarters.
Sources say she has been on police radar for a long time.
"Her cartel extends to Nairobi and controls operations of extensive money syndicates in the country," a police source privy to the investigations said.
Police say she is also a ring leader of con operatives who issue fake air tickets, visas, work permits and obtain money pretending to offer jobs in the Middle East.
The two are held at Nyali police station awaiting arraignment on Tuesday.
Police raids in Kisauni and Nyali have led to arrests of foreigners involved in illegal trade including drug trafficking, pornography, money laundering and terrorism.
In January, police busted an international money-printing syndicate with links in the United States and seized Sh6.67 million in Sh1,000 fake notes which were in final stages of production in a house in Mtwapa.
Police also recovered chemicals used to print fake money during the raid in which two suspects escaped.
Edited by R.Wamochie
