For years, the Akasha name was associated with one of the most notorious organised-crime networks linked to Kenya.
Based in Mombasa, the family’s involvement in the international drug trade stretched back decades. Reuters reported that Ibrahim Abdalla Akasha, the family patriarch, had been described by Western diplomats as a major figure in the drug trade, with the family’s network extending from Mombasa to Europe.
A Family Business
After the elder Ibrahim Akasha was killed in Amsterdam in 2000, his sons Baktash and Ibrahim later emerged as prominent figures in the organisation.
The brothers eventually became the focus of a major U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation into international narcotics trafficking.
According to U.S. prosecutors, Baktash was the leader of the organisation while his younger brother Ibrahim served as his deputy. Their network allegedly connected suppliers in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region with distribution networks across Africa and beyond.
The DEA Sting
What ultimately brought the organisation down was an undercover operation.
In 2014, DEA confidential sources posed as representatives of a South American drug-trafficking organisation and began negotiating with the Akashas in Mombasa and Nairobi.
According to U.S. court records, the undercover operation eventually resulted in the organisation supplying 99 kilograms of heroin and two kilograms of methamphetamine to the confidential sources. Investigators alleged that the Akashas were also discussing much larger future shipments.
During one meeting in Mombasa, Baktash allegedly introduced a supplier who claimed he could provide 420 kilograms of high-purity heroin for distribution in the United States.
Arrested in Mombasa
On November 9, 2014, Baktash and Ibrahim were arrested in Mombasa alongside two associates following the U.S. request.
But their arrest did not immediately end the case.
While extradition proceedings were underway in Kenya, U.S. prosecutors alleged that the brothers attempted to obstruct the process through bribery. The case therefore expanded beyond drug trafficking to include corruption and obstruction allegations.
In January 2017, the brothers were eventually expelled from Kenya and transported to the United States to face prosecution.
The Empire Collapses
In October 2018, Baktash and Ibrahim pleaded guilty in a New York federal court to charges including drug trafficking, weapons offences and obstruction.
Baktash was later sentenced to 25 years in prison, while Ibrahim received a 23-year sentence.
The case brought an extraordinary chapter of the Akasha family's story to an end: a Mombasa-based organisation that U.S. authorities described as having international reach had been dismantled through an undercover operation that began with meetings in Kenya and ended with the brothers behind bars in America.
