Baktash Akasha, Ibrahim Akasha, Gulam Hussein, Vijay Goswami Arrive in NYC on Drug Charges

Four high-level drug traffickers — BAKTASH AKASHA ABDALLA, a/k/a “Baktash Akasha,” IBRAHIM AKASHA ABDALLA, a/k/a “Ibrahim Akasha,” GULAM HUSSEIN, a/k/a “Hussein Shabakhash,” a/k/a “Hadji Hussein,” a/k/a “Old Man,” and VIJAYGIRI ANANDGIRI GOSWAMI, a/k/a “Vijay Goswami,” a/k/a “Vicky Goswami” — arrived in New York from Kenya to face federal charges in a multimillion-dollar heroin and methamphetamine importation conspiracy. The arrests, coordinated by U.S. authorities with Kenyan law enforcement, mark a major blow to an East African narcotics network with direct lines to the American drug trade.

The defendants were taken into custody in Mombasa, Kenya, on November 9, 2014, following a U.S.-led operation targeting their alleged roles in shipping 99 kilograms of heroin and two kilograms of methamphetamine from Kenya with the intent to flood U.S. streets. A superseding indictment filed the next day formally charged them with narcotics importation offenses, detailing a months-long operation in which they negotiated directly with individuals they believed were South American cartel operatives — but were in fact DEA confidential sources.

Baktash Akasha, the alleged ringleader, heads a powerful crime syndicate in Kenya — the “Akasha Organization” — responsible for the production and global distribution of ton-level quantities of heroin and meth. His brother, Ibrahim Akasha, served as his deputy. Vijay Goswami managed the group’s drug operations, including meth production and heroin procurement. Gulam Hussein, a Pakistani national and longtime associate of Goswami, controlled a vast transportation network moving narcotics across Africa and the Middle East, openly claiming responsibility for sea shipments of tons of heroin.

According to the superseding indictment, between March 2014 and their arrest, the defendants conducted multiple meetings and phone calls in Nairobi and Mombasa to finalize deals with the undercover operatives. They agreed to supply multi-kilogram shipments of heroin and meth, believing the drugs would be smuggled into the United States. Instead, the entire operation was under DEA surveillance, exposing the group’s international reach and operational structure.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “As alleged, the four defendants who arrived yesterday in New York ran a Kenyan drug trafficking organization with global ambitions. For their alleged distribution of literally tons of narcotics – heroin and methamphetamine – around the globe, including to America, they will now face justice in a New York federal court.”

DEA Special Operations Division Special Agent in Charge Raymond Donovan added: “DEA pursues the most dangerous global drug traffickers who pose a direct threat to safety and stability around the world. We are relentlessly pursuing these criminal groups and their facilitators at every level with our law enforcement partners and we value and appreciate the work of our Kenyan counterparts. It is critical that we attack these dangerous networks before they can do even more damage worldwide and threaten innocent lives.” The defendants were arraigned later the same day in Manhattan federal court.