The Kenyan newspaper The Standard has just run a couple of in-depth articles on David Mugo Kiragu, the drug dealer who was sentenced last week to 30 years in prison and a $270,000 fine after Kenyan police caught him trying to smuggle 1.1 metric tons of cocaine to Europe.
In “Mother of Kenya’s top drug lords speaks out“, Amos Kareithi journeys to Kiragu’s childhood home to speak to his mother who expresses surprise that her son was a successful and rich drug dealer, claiming she saw none of his wealth. She cites the dilapidated property Kareithi has just described, in at times excruciating detail, as evidence, as well as the debts she has had to pay off.
Meanwhile, Dauti Kahura, in “A drug dealer’s life”, speaks to friends and colleagues who did see some of the money. When they first knew him he was a tout for and then driver of a matatu, a minibus/shared taxi, around Nairobi. Despite this line of work he always had lots of money to spend on himself and on drinks for his mates, the source of his wealth becoming a lot clearer when he employed some of them to offload boxes at night from speedboats at a luxurious beach house.