How Kenya Helped US Authorities Track Down an Afghan Drug Suspect

Kenya has extradited an Afghan national to the United States to face drug trafficking and firearms charges after his arrest in Nairobi.

The suspect travelled from Kabul to Nairobi in April 2025 and was arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) after INTERPOL issued a Red Notice linked to a US arrest warrant. His extradition in July followed a year-long investigation involving the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), INTERPOL and Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

The investigation began in December 2024, when undercover operatives posing as buyers met an associate of the suspect in Johannesburg and obtained a two-kilogram sample of methamphetamine. The operation was conducted under DEA supervision and enabled investigators to gather evidence without revealing their identities.

The meeting helped investigators establish a link between the alleged drug network and East Africa, eventually leading them to Nairobi. After the connection was established, US authorities asked Kenya to assist in locating and arresting the suspect. He was later arrested at a Nairobi hotel, after which prosecutors began extradition proceedings.

The ODPP argued that Kenya had the legal authority to surrender the suspect under international conventions, despite the absence of a bilateral extradition treaty between Kenya and the United States. The case follows previous investigations in which DEA informants infiltrated drug networks operating through Kenya. 

In those operations, undercover agents posed as members of South American cartels seeking heroin and methamphetamine, leading to the arrest and extradition of suspects who had used Nairobi as a meeting point for drug deals.