Kenyan poacher and drug trafficker Mansour pleads guilty in US court
Infamous ivory, rhinoceros horn poacher and drug trafficker Abubakar Mansur Mohammed Surur alias Mansour.
A Kenyan man on Wednesday pleaded guilty to trafficking illegal ivory and rhino horns in a US federal court.
Prosecutors in New York said Mansur Mohamed Surur was involved in the illegal poaching of more than 35 rhinoceros and over 100 elephants, both endangered species.
He also pled guilty to conspiring to distribute a kilogram of heroin to a buyer in the US, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The prosecution said Surur is the face of the Kromah Network – an international rhino horns, ivory and drug trafficking syndicate in Kenya, Uganda, Somalia and Senegal. His accomplices, Moazu Kromah (Liberian) and Amara Cherif (Guinean), had earlier pleaded guilty to similar charges on March 30 and April 27, respectively.
Their co-accused, Badru Abdul Aziz Saleh and Abdi Hussein Ahmed, are yet to take plea. Mr Aziz is in custody in Nairobi pending his extradition to the US, while Mr Ahmed is still at large.
The US Department of State has offered a reward of Sh100 million for any information that will lead to his arrest. Mr Aziz was recently arrested in Liboi, Garissa, as he attempted to cross over to Somalia.
Prosecutors said the network would receive payments through wire transfers via US financial institutions and locally through money service bureaus using falsified documents. They reportedly used mobile money transfers to pay bribes to rogue customs officials at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to ensure safe passage of the ivory.
US Attorney Damian Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Kenya Directorate of Criminal Investigations led by Mr George Kinoti, saying the protection of endangered wildlife resources is a priority to the Biden administration.
He also heaped praise on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions led by Mr Noordin Haji for their assistance in investigations.
“The protection of endangered wildlife and natural resources is a crucial and important priority for my office. These defendants were responsible for furthering an industry that illegally slaughters species protected by international agreements around the world. One of these defendants also engaged in a narcotics conspiracy involving a large quantity of heroin,” said Mr Williams.
“Thanks to the tireless efforts of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Drug Enforcement Administration, these defendants have now pleaded guilty to the serious and destructive crimes they committed,” he added.
Mr Williams also thanked law enforcement authorities and conservation partners in Uganda and Kenya for their contributions to the probe.
Court documents show that Kromah, Cherif and Surur conspired with others to transport, distribute, sell and smuggle approximately 190 kilos of rhino horns and at least 10 tons of ivory in east and west Africa valued at US$3.4 million and US$4 million, respectively.
The items were transported disguised as pieces of art, such as African masks and statues, to customers in America and parts of Asia who would wire back the payments.
Prosecutors said that on or about March 16, 2018, law enforcement agents intercepted a package containing a black rhinoceros horn sold by the defendants that was intended for a buyer in Manhattan. The defendants offered to sell additional rhinoceros horns of varying weights, including horns weighing up to approximately seven kilograms.
On July 17, 2018, agents intercepted a package containing two rhinoceros horns sold by the defendants that were intended for a buyer in Manhattan.
Kromah, 52, Surur and Cherif, 57, are in detention in the US pending their judgement. Conspiracy to commit wildlife trafficking attracts a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
“Eradicating drug and wildlife trafficking are priorities of the Biden administration. We are grateful for the continued partnership of the Kenyan government to capture and arrest members of these criminal networks,” Mr Eric Kneedler, the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Nairobi, said last week.
Surur was extradited to the US last year. In July 2020, he had attempted to sneak back home via a Skyward Express chartered flight but was arrested in an operation conducted by DCI and Interpol upon arrival at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa.
He is from Marsabit County and had just landed from Yemen, where he had been hiding after Interpol raised a red alert in 2019.
