10 Tanzanians jailed in the US for drug trafficking

Dar es Salaam. The once most wanted and powerful drug kingpin in Tanzania Mr Ali Khatib Haji alias Shkuba, 49, alongside nine other Tanzanians have been imprisoned in the US for between three and eight years.

They were sentenced alongside an Iranian and Pakistan accomplices for running a drug trafficking syndicate spanning 19 countries in six continents.

The convicts pleaded guilty to trafficking 1,600 kilograms of heroin to the United States from abroad.  The Iranian national will serve the longest jail term of 11 years.

The Tanzanians include Ali Khatib Haji Hassan, 49, alias Shkuba, Makame Haji Mwinyi, 49, Ernest Michael Mbwile, 35, Abdulahtif Juma Maalim, 43, Ibrahim Omary Madega, 52, Tiko Emanuel Adam, 41, Iddy Saleme Mfullu, 46, Mohammed Said Mohammed, 48 and Daud Michael Vedasto, 58.

Shkuba rose to notoriety in Tanzania drug circles as was regarded a kingpin with deep pockets and friends in powerful places.

His role in the international heroin and cocaine smuggling business came to light for the first time in February 2014 when the then head of the Anti-Drugs Unit (ADU) Godfrey Nzowa, personally seized him shortly before he took a flight to South Africa.

In 2016, the US government listed him among the world’s most notorious drug traffickers.

The foreigners who were jailed are Salim Omar Balouch, 36, from Iran and Abdul Basit Jahangir, 40, from Karachi, Pakistan.

Jahangir received a 151-month term of imprisonment. Mfullu and Mohammed both received terms of 50 months, while Hassan, Mwinyi, Mbwile, Maalim, Madega, Adam and Vedasto, were ordered to serve 99, 62, 52, 46, 87, 37 and 46 months, respectively.

The court imposed a 135-month sentence for Balouch. Not US citizens, they are all expected to face deportation proceedings following their sentences.

The syndicate was busted in June 2012 with the arrest of an internal body carrier at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport who had swallowed 1.5 kg of heroin packaged in 100 pellets.

The investigation spanned Tanzania, US, Canada, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, South Africa, Seychelles, Hong Kong, Australia, Oman, UK, Italy, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Mozambique, The Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.