Seven Somali refugees have been
arrested over claims of human trafficking
and hosting Al-Shabaab terrorists at the
Dadaab Refugee Camp.
They are accused of facilitating the
movement of refugees to Nairobi to obtain
illegal documents and hosting terrorists
at the facility.
Police say the seven were arrested
Tuesday in an investigation that had been
launched weeks ago targeting illegal
activities there.
“They have been facilitating refugees to
move to Nairobi for documents to enable
them move to Europe and Canada. The
suspects have also been hosting
terrorists at the camp,” said North Eastern
regional coordinator Mohamed Saleh
said.
Those arrested were identified as Bertie
Mohamed Khalif, Ahmed Abdi Mohamud,
Omar Mohamed Khalif, Bare Hussein
Mahat, Shamsudin Dubow, Nasra Abdi
Noor and Anab Mohamed Muhamed.
Police presented the suspects in a court
in Garissa and were granted ten days to
continue holding them as investigations
go on before they take plea.
This comes weeks after police arrested
three wanted terror suspects in a police
operation over human trafficking claims.
Police said the first suspect was Ali
Hussein Ali alias Trusted One and was
also involved in human smuggling and
terrorism financing.
He was linked to both Al-Shabaab and
ISIS as well as Magafe Human trafficking
network in Libya.
Inspector General of police Joseph
Boinnet said the suspect was arrested on
March 27 in Malindi alongside Ibrahim
Abasheikh Muktar and Abdi Mohamed
Yusuf aka Dader.
Boinnet said Ali was born in Somalia and
came to Kenya in 2010 before he moved
to South Africa, Sudan and later to Libya
where he joined ISIS.
“Ali played a key role in facilitating the
travel of recruits from Kenya and Somalia
to join ISIS in Libya as well as facilitating
illegal immigrants enter Europe,” said
Boinnet.
He added the suspect also facilitated the
movement of money through various
countries before reaching Libya to
conceal transaction trail.
At the time of his arrest, Ali was
demanding Sh63 million (US$639) from
his boss for a commission of a job done.
Ali and Mukhtar have allegedly been
housing immigrants in lodges in
Eastleigh, Malindi and other areas before
moving them to Libya, Syria and Europe
through Kampala and Busia border and
Juba.
Mukhtar is a businessman and landlord in
Watamu while Yusuf is a long distance
driver and personal driver to Ali.
According to Boinnet, Yusuf was used in
ferrying recruits from one destination to
the other.
“On arrival in Libya, the recruits and
illegal immigrants are detained by Magafe
and would be released on payment of
between Sh250,000 and Sh700,000 which
is later transferred through hawalas in
Kenya to Mogadishu and later to ISIS.”
Some of the recruits held in Tripoli have
been asking for help from their Kenyan
relatives and those who got help drowned
in Mediterranean Sea while crossing to
Europe.
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