Kenyan linked to weapons seized at Mogadishu port missing-lawyer

GOOBJOOG NEWS | MOMBASA: Lawyers representing a Kenyan businessman reported to have been behind a cache of weapons seized last on May this year at Mogadishu port has gone missing.

The lawyer, Jared Magolo appealed to the High Court in Mombasa to help in producing his client Zakariya Kamala Sufi Abasheikh who was arrested in April this year by Kenyan police.

Magolo said he had sought information from the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) without any success.

“I have made enquiries and visited the ATPU offices at the regional headquarters, but Abasheikh is nowhere to be found and the officers are not giving any information,” said Magolo.

Abasheikh, who is free on $6,770 bail, was due to appear in Shanzu Court on September 22 but failed to show up.

“The family and friends are worried about his safety. I am therefore compelled to seek orders for his appearance in court or his release,” Magolo said in the document filed before Justice Ann Ong’injo.

The government has been given two weeks to respond to the application.

According to Somali authorities, the seized consignment at Mogadishu Port on May 9 included five advanced JS crop drones, capable of carrying 10 litres of liquid up to 500 metres above sea level and covering an area of 10 hectares.

Also found were rifle scopes, materials for military uniforms, canvas for tents, night vision goggles, swim goggles, voice recording pens, spy goggles and watches, military-grade two-way radios, helmets, ghillie suits (camouflage), portable solar panels, flashlights and batteries.

The state through the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), has requested legal assistance from both Somalia and China in order to gather evidence and testimony on the origin of the cargo.