Mombasa magistrate in deep trouble over missing Ksh30 million heroin

A principal magistrate in Mombasa has been arrested in connection with missing 10.022Kgs of heroin valued at Ksh30.1 million.

The illegal drugs belonged to Hussein Masoud Eid, who was in December 2018 charged with trafficking narcotics.

Masoud was arraigned before Mombasa Principal Magistrate Edgar Kagoni.

On December 4, 2018, the 10.022Kgs of heroin was produced in court as exhibit in the case against Masoud. Also produced in court, was Masoud’s Ksh600, 000.

As the case continued, the investigating officer, Mjomba, asked to keep the exhibits, a request that Magistrate Kagoni rejected.

The magistrate, however, directed that the exhibits be stored at the court’s exhibits store. Kagoni, however, did not put that instruction in writing.

On June 11, 2019, Kagoni found the suspect, Masoud, guilty of trafficking narcotics and sentenced him to 30 years in jail plus a fine of Ksh90 million.

The magistrate, however, ordered that the Ksh600, 000 which was seized alongside the illegal drugs be returned to Masoud.

The DCI says that on diverse dates between June 28, 2019 and July 26, 2019, they discovered that the 10.022Kgs of heroin was missing from the exhibits store.

The crime investigations unit says that following the unexplained disappearance of the heroin, the magistrate aided the commission of an offence.

Kagoni was arrested in Mombasa early Saturday.

Others, who were also arrested, are Mombasa court assistant, Onesmus Momanyi, officer in charge of the exhibits storage, Abdalla Abubakar and a Mombasa Law Courts support staff, Lawrence Thoya.

The four will be arraigned on Monday, September 9, the DCI said.