Joyce Teresia Akinyi Ochieng’ has been definitively convicted of drug trafficking, ending a nearly five-year-long legal saga. The verdict was delivered by the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport courts on Friday, bringing a conclusion to a complex case involving a transnational narcotics operation.
The prosecution, led by Norah Achieng’, Annette Wangia, and Faith Mwila, presented compelling evidence linking Akinyi to heroin trafficking. She was convicted alongside her co-defendants, Paulin Kalala, a Congolese national, and Peres Ochieng’. The case also involved charges of possessing fraudulent documentation.
The legal proceedings began after the group was arrested in 2019 at Deep West Bar in Nairobi West. Anti-narcotics officers intercepted them with around 2 kilograms of heroin, valued at Sh 5,588,580. The charges were filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act and the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act, covering drug trafficking and passport fraud. Alongside the criminal convictions, asset seizure measures were also enacted by the High Court.
Justice Mumbi Ngugi ordered the surrender of two vehicles registered under Akinyi’s name, as evidence from the Assets Recovery Agency revealed suspicious financial transactions. Bank records from 2015 to 2018 suggested illicit activities related to drug trafficking.
Akinyi’s criminal history includes previous run-ins with the law, including a 2008 arrest in New Delhi for money laundering charges alongside former Budalang’i MP Raphael Wanjala, and further drug-related allegations in 2013 and 2015.
Akinyi’s personal life has also attracted attention, particularly her dispute with her estranged husband, Antony Chinedu, a Nigerian businessman who was deported in 2013 due to drug trafficking suspicions.
The sentencing, which is set for December 10, 2024, will proceed without Peres Ochieng’, who evaded prosecution after being placed on defense.