‎Three Kenya Airways employees jailed 25 years for trafficking Heroin worth Ksh.60Million

‎‎By Thomas pkiror

‎The state has chalked up another big win in the  long, bruising war against drug trafficking after three Kenya Airways employees were handed hefty  prison and a very huge fine for smuggling heroin valued at more than Ksh.60million.

‎The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) court on Friday sentenced cabin crew members Lennox Chengek Chestit and Alfric Odhiambo Otieno, alongside ground staffer Kenneth Sinzore Isundu,to 25 years in prison each.

‎The court further slapped them with fines ranging between Ksh.88 million and Ksh.90 million.If they fail to pay,they will serve an extra one-year sentence, through concurrently with the main term.

‎Their conviction follows two counts of trafficking in narcotic drugs.In the first,Chestit and Isundu were found guilty of ferrying 9,845.70 grams of Heroin valued at Ksh.29,537,100.

‎In the second, Otieno and Isundu were convicted of trafficking a 20kg haul worth Ksh.60 million.Senior Principal magistrate Njeri Thuku  ordered that Isundu's sentences run concurrently.

‎The convicts had pleaded for non-custodial sentences,a request the court tossed out without hesitation.

‎"All the three asked the court for a non-custodial sentence,but the court is bound by the Community Service Orders Act.Drug trafficking offences do not fit the  parameters for non-custodial sentencing,"Magistrate Thuku ruled.

‎She also reprimanded the trio for tarnishing the reputation of the  Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) and Kenya Airways.

‎"To see the employees of Kenya Airways themselves involved in drug trafficking is more damaging than any of them possibly imagined,"She observed.

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‎Chestit  was 26 at the time of arrest, Otieno 27,and Isundu 45.The judgement caps an eighth-year  trial now regarded as   a landmark step in tightening the Country's defences against narcotics trafficking through its international gateways.

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