Family of Kenyan Man Imprisoned in India for Smuggling Miraa Appeals for Gov't Intervention

The family of a Kenyan man who was reportedly arrested while attempting to smuggle miraa into India is pleading with Kenya's ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene and have their son released.

26-year-old Richard Koome was nabbed with 66 kilograms of khat at an airport in Mumbai on May 28th and has been languishing in prison since then. 

His mother Zipporah Nkatha says her son, a miraa trader in Nairobi's Eastleigh estate, was hoodwinked by a Nairobi-based Ethiopian businessman to sneak the package into Mumbai with a promise of good returns.

“My son had been selling miraa in Nairobi, where he had been living with his wife, for more than four years. Before he travelled to India he had called to inform me that he had landed a good deal to do business in India. However, we did not knew it was an illicit deal since miraa is illegal in India,” Nkatha say.

She says Koome was charged in India and was granted Sh1 million bail, an amount the family is unable to raise.

“We have been in the dark for the six months because we cannot tell the fate of my son or what he is going through. I had earlier written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help us but l am yet to receive the feedback,” she says.