Confessed Kenyan Drug Trafficker Ibrahim Akasha Sentenced to 23 Years in US Federal Prison

Confessed Kenyan drug trafficker Ibrahim Akasha has been sentenced to 23 years in federal prison in the United States.

Judge Victor Marrero of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday handed a 23-year sentence to Akasha, 31, for conspiracy to import 99 kilograms to heroin, as well as conspiracy to import methamphetamine into the United States.

Daw Cardi said she was shocked by the long sentence, calling the punishment “outrageous and totally unwarranted.” She argued that Ibrahim, who pleaded guilty to the crime in 2018, had a minor role in the Akasha drug organization, and had sought a 10-year sentence.  

The prosecution in the case involving Ibrahim, his older brother Baktash Akasha, and Vijaygiri Anandgiri Goswami (an Indian national), and Hussein Shabakhash (a Pakistani national), US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents posed as Colombian dealers and in audio recordings, the accused agreed to import 99 kilograms of heroin and two kilograms of methamphetamine in Kenya, which they would then export to the United States.

Ibrahim’s older brother, Baktash Akasha, the organization’s ringleader, was sentenced to 25 years in prison last August.