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REVEALED: Kenyan trader behind weapons seized in Mogadishu in May

Storyline:National News, Security

GOOBJOOG NEWS|NAIROBI: Police in Kenya are investigating a trader who is thought to have imported the assortment of weapons confiscated at Aden Adde Airport in Mogadishu on May 19.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has said it is on course to charge Zakariya Kamal Sufi Abashiek with belonging to a terrorist organisation and providing property for the commission of terrorist acts.

The DCI which had sought ten more days to detain Kamal said it had received intelligence in mid-April that the accused was providing logistical support to Al-Shabaab and was in the process of transporting a suspicious container from China to Somalia.

It was later established that the same container marked MSMU826114145G1 shipped to Somalia from China was the same one flagged by security agencies in Mogadishu. Somalia’s state minister for Security Mohamed Haga announced on May 9 that authorities had seized a cache of weapons at Aden Adde Airport leading to the arrest of 10 suspects.

The weapons included five high-specification JS crop drones with the capacity to carry 10 litres of liquid 500 metres above sea level and cover 10 hectares, rifle scopes, rolls of material for making military uniforms, and 3,000 metres of canvas packed in 30-metre rolls for making tents.

Other items were 18-night vision goggles and swimming goggles, 18 voice recording pens, 18 spy goggles and watches, military-grade two-way radios and helmets, ghillie suits (camouflage), portable solar panels and 20 torches and batteries.

Kamal was arrested on April 28 in Mombasa and adduced in court on May 2 before he was detained for ten days. The Anti-Terrorsim Police Unit (ATPU) also requested 16 more days to investigate Kamal but the extension has since ended and Kamal is out on a $10,000 cash bail.

The ATPU told the court that Kamal had received death threats from Somalia. According to Kenyan media reports, the DCI intends to visit Somalia and China to widen their investigations before charging Kamal.