The making of Akasha Organization; East Africa’s most intricate narcotics syndicate

Earlier this week, Kenya’s anti narcotics campaign took an interesting turn after two Akasha brothers, Baktash (40) & Ibrahim (28) – the second generation of world famous ‘Akasha Organization’ narcotics cartel – were extradited to the United States to face charges of conspiring to import drugs to the US.

But who exactly are the Akashas and why is the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) after them?

It all began with the late Ibrahim Akasha.

For years, Ibrahim – the family patriarch – gradually and tactfully built from scratch, the cartel that would eventually make DEA come calling.

And by the time the Akashas came to the limelight when Ibrahim was charged with drug trafficking in 1996, an intricate narcotics syndicate had already been established.

At one point, Ibrahim Akasha’s estate was estimated to be worth more than USD 100 million, with properties in Amsterdam, the Middle East and Asia.

And as Ibrahim’s exited, in 1998 it was his brother’s turn.

In his absentia, Ibrahim Akasha hired a Yugoslavian conduit to ship his consignment to Europe. This new agent was linked up to an international syndicate based in Amsterdam.

At the top of the Dutch gang was Sam Klepper, a notorious drug trafficker born in the Netherlands. Akasha’s inside men in Amsterdam were the Barsoums brother, Mounir and Magdi.

For a couple of years, the new collaboration between the Dutch and the Kenyan gangs ran smoothly raking in unprecedented profits.

But the equilibrium cracked in 1999 when the payment for a drug consignment failed: an event that sparkled an internal feud that only ended when the Akashas abducted the Dutch gang’s Yugoslavian agent from which they managed to cash in USD 211000.

Sam Klepper had it in 2000, when Ibrahim Akasha was shot dead while walking hand-in-hand with his wife in Bloedstraat, Amsterdam.

Grapevine has it that, it was Mounir Barsoum who pulled the trigger.

Some days before, Ibrahima Akasha had received a phone call from Magdi Barsoum inviting him to Amsterdam. He had obtained the Dutch visa in Spring 2000, just in time to avoid being apprehended by the police who found 4.7 tons of heroin worth Sh940 million in the Akashas home of up-market Nyali Estate, Mombasa.

By then, the Kenyan authorities were preparing to seize all the family assets. Unfortunately, the entire operation turned out to be a total failure: the authorities didn’t succeed in breaking the Akasha empire.

But as is characteristic of the narcotics ‘enterprise,’ the end of that feud ushered in a new one.

This time, Klepper’s gang was fighting against a Yugoslavian gang led by the famous drug dealer Streten “Jotcha” Jocic which joined the syndicate. The Yugoslavians were pushing for the execution of Ibrahim Akasha.

Of course, the feud didn’t end without bloodshed: In October 2000, Keller was killed, followed by the Barsoums brothers in 2002 and 2004.

In a nutshell, since the ‘90s, drug dealing has always been a trademark for Akashas.

Kenyan intelligence reports indicate that, the Netherlands was the final destination of the huge haul of 1.2 tons of cocaine cargo seized in Kenya in 2004. It is suspected that the Akashas were the men behind it.

The DEA is said to have spent years trying to infiltrate the Akasha Organization.

Eventually the DEA allegedly concluded that, the Akasha Organization was part of a heroin supply chain that stretched from the poppy fields of Afghanistan through East Africa to the cities of Europe and the United States.

In documents filed in a court in the Southern District of New York on November 10th, 2015, the U.S. prosecutors alleged that the Akasha organisation was responsible for the production and distribution of large quantities of narcotics in Kenya, Africa and beyond.

Reliable sources indicate that, as of 2016, the Akasha Organization’s top command comprised of:

• Baktash Akasha Abdallah – considered as the new boss.
• Ibrahim Akasha Abdallah – the younger version of slain Ibrahim and second in command after Baktash.
• Nichu Akasha Nichu – said to have been running a garage in Parklands area, in Nairobi

In November 2014, the U.S. government requested the extradition of Baktash Akasha Abdallah and Ibrahim Akasha Abdallah for drug trafficking.

Baktash has been described in several narcotics reports as the new leader of an organised crime and drug trafficking network with his bother Ibrahim being his chief lieutenant.

Both Baktash and Ibrahim are now before US courts facing charges of conspiring to import drugs to the US.

Addition info courtesy of correctiv.org