Organized Crime Ivory Case Nearing Conclusion
A major ivory trafficking case now in its seventh year is closer to conclusion after the five accused persons gave evidence in their defense before a Nairobi court.
On March 5th, 2025, Abdinoor Ibrahim Ali, Wesley Silvanus Adweya, Hillary Karani, Rawlings Innocent Ogondi and his brother, Ronson Ogondi Njue, appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate S.O. Temu in Kibera law courts. They are facing charges of Possession and Dealing in wildlife trophies in addition to a charge of ‘acting in concert with others in the commission of a serious offence’ under the Prevention of Organized Crime Act.
On June 27th, 2017, officers of Kenya’s Special Crime Prevention Unit raided a home in the vicinity of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and recovered 216.7 kg of worked ivory that was in the process of being packaged as flowers for an air freight shipment to Bangkok, Thailand. Weighing scales, a cutting machine, and various packaging materials were also seized. By ivory seizure standards, while the particular haul was not large, subsequent investigation revealed that this small group was acting to the benefit of an international cartel based in Kampala.
Five men were arrested at the rental property, four of them having employment connections to JKIA. The sixth man, Abdinoor Ibrahim Ali, alleged to have links with a West African crime group, was arrested a few hours later. Arguably the most significant arrest came three days later when Ahmed Mohamed Salah, alias Ahmed Mahabub Gedi, was arrested at the Kenya/Tanzania border crossing of Namanga while attempting to flee the country. While in police custody, he provided to investigators a detailed confession as to his financial involvement in the ivory consignment that originated from DRC and Uganda, and was planned to transit Nairobi via Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) before air transport to Thailand.
It was not long, however, before Mohamed Salah was released in a court decision that was highly suspect. Salah, of Somalian birth, schooled while at Daadab refugee camp, in possession of a fraudulent Kenyan identification, no fixed address in Kenya, resident of Mozambique for five years, in Kenya illegally for the criminal purpose of facilitating the trans-national trafficking of 216.7 kg of ivory, and arrested at a border point with Tanzania while fleeing justice, was permitted bond release on a 1 million shilling (USD $10,000) cash bail and never seen again.
The defence hearing of March 5th took place with the five remaining accused giving testimony on their behalf. The first accused person, Julius Abluu Adika, whose home the ivory was found in, was no longer part of the case as he had reportedly passed away in 2022. His absence, however, was taken advantage of by the remaining accused who styled their defence by throwing the responsibility of ivory ownership on him.
Accused Abdinoor Ibrahim Ali, told the court that he had never been to the house in question and only knew the third accused, Wesley Adwenya. He knew nothing about the ivory found in the house.
Wesley Adwenya testified that he worked at JKIA as a clearing and forwarding agent, primarily a flower exporter. He was a nephew to the deceased accused Adika.
He said that on the day in question he had been contacted by his uncle who was unwell and requested a visit. On his way there, he picked up Hillary Karani (fourth accused), and Rawlings Innocent Ogondi (fifth accused), who Adwenya described as his casual workers. Adwenya continued that they were ambushed by police as they arrived at the gate of his uncle’s house.
Karani and Ogondi told the court that they were simply on their way to work at the airport and the stop over led to their arrest.
The sixth accused, Ronson Ogondi Njue, told Senior Principal Magistrate S.O. Temu, that he worked as a driver for a friend of the first accused and regularly parked his employer’s vehicle at the compound of the deceased accused. On the day of the arrest, he had gone to the compound to pick up the vehicle. (the said Isuzu pickup was subsequently ‘stolen’ from police custody some months after the ivory seizure and arrest).
Their testimony was in contrast to the police investigation that indicated that the deceased accused Adika, Wesley Adwenya, and Hillary Karani were inside the house in the act of packaging the ivory when officers of the Special Crime Prevention Unit arrived.
Rawlings Innocent Ogondi and Ronson Ogondi Njue, the 5th and 6th accused, (and brothers) were in the process of leaving the compound when they were arrested.
Regrettably, the cross examination of the accused by the ODPP prosecutor would have been described as tepid at best, and no challenging questions were asked of the accused to challenge the discrepancies between the testimony of the accused and the police.
The case has been beset with other irregularities aside from the release of Ahmed Mohamed Salah; the apparent deception by Salah’s lawyer to the court over Salah’s failure to attend because of ‘sickness’, the Isuzu pickup truck seized by investigators on the day of the seizure went ‘missing’ from police custody a few months later, the non-arrest of the man believed to have cut the ivory for transit and identified through phone data, and the listing of Salah alias Gedi on the Interpol Red Notice list with no photograph, no alias, no descriptors, no offence listing, no mention that he was a resident of Mozambique.
The matter will be before Kibera court next on April 2nd to confirm the final submissions of both prosecution and defence counsel.



- On the evening of June 26th, 2017, officers from the Special Crimes Prevention Unit received information on a property in the Utawala Estate, Nairobi, where a quantity of ivory was located. Utawala Estate is located just north of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
- SCPU officers maintained surveillance on the property until the next morning when they conducted a search as two persons were about to leave.
- The resulting search found 217 kg of cut ivory, much of it already wrapped, along with scales, cutting equipment and packaging materials.
- Five men were arrested on the property and a pickup vehicle seized. Four of the five had with employment ties to Jomo Kenyatta Airport.
- A sixth male and the alleged ring leader, Abdinur Ibrahim Ali, was arrested a short time later off site. A seventh man, a Somali national and Mozambique resident, Ahmed Mohamud Salah alias Ahmed Mahabub Gedi, was arrested a few days later while attempting to flee Kenya at the Namanga border crossing.
- All seven appeared in court and were released on bail. The release of Ahmed Salah, with no Kenyan ties, a Somali national with residence and employment in Mozambique, arrested while fleeing the country with fraudulently obtained travel documents would be considered highly irregular. He has not been seen since release.
- Since the arrest, investigators have found that both Abdinoor Ibrahim Ali and Ahmed Mohamud Salah have connections to the West African organized crime group based in Kampala.
#143 is a number assigned indicating this seizure has a link(s) to the West African cartel and its ivory was not DNA analysed.
COURT PROGRESS
Previously – Chief Magistrate Esther Boke
*********************************
April 3rd, 2024 (Hearing): All relevant persons were present in court except for one, the last remaining prosecution witness, Chief Inspector Inoti. The court was advised that IO, who has since been transferred to Kiambu, was injured as he was pursuing an incident in Juja hence his absence today. The matter was adjourned to 6th May 2024 at 2:00 P.M
*********************************
March 5th, 2024 (Hearing): Today’s hearing of the final prosecution witness did not take place. The prosecutor advised the court that Chief Inspector Inoti was indisposed. The hearing has been adjourned to April 3rd, 2024.
*********************************
February 5th, 2024 (Hearing):
by E. Gutu
*********************************
November 13th, 2023 (Hearing): This time it was fate that intervened to delay this case yet another three months. There was no court today anywhere in the country as the government gazetted the day as a public holiday approximately one week before. The court has adjourned the matter to February 5th for a hearing.
September 5th, 2023 (Hearing): Today’s hearing did not take place as the 3rd and 5th accused, Wesley Adweya and Rawling Innocent, were in custody in the Nairobi area for other offences and their release had not been obtained by counsel through the courts. Today’s prosecution witness, CI Inoti was present. The hearing has been adjourned to September 28th at 2:00pm.
In the last 20 months, there have been 14 scheduled hearing dates. Three hearings took place, each hearing one witness.
*********************************
August 29th, 2023 (Hearing): The scheduled hearing with expected testimony from the IO, Chief Inspector Inoti, and the Safaricom Liaison Officer, did not occur as both were not present for reasons not specified. Chief Inspector Inoti had informed another Kibera court last week that he was no longer the seconded DCI officer to KWS and was now working in Uganda. He did, however, tell that court that he would make himself available for a trial on September 6th.
This matter, 1649/17, has been adjourned for hearing to September 5th. Advocates for the accused requested from Senior Principal Magistrate S.O. Temu that all remaining witnesses be produced on that date.
*********************************
June 14th, 2023 (Hearing): The court today heard testimony from a KWS officer of the cyber-crime forensic unit. As per a request from the IO on July 11th, 2017, an analysis was done of the call data records and mpesa transactions of the accused persons. She prepared an 11 page report. Her testimony could be boiled down to the fact that there were no transactions in excess of 1000 keh and of the group, Wesley Adweya (A#3) been the most connected among the group.
- one prosecution witness testified, the owner of the rented property where the ivory was found.
- next hearings scheduled for November 18th and 23rd.
FILE | 1649/17 |
SEIZURE DATE | June 27th, 2017 |
CONTRABAND SEIZED and CIRCUMSTANCES | 216.76 kg of worked ivory, in 105 pieces, many already packaged and wrapped for air freight |
LOCATION | A rented home in Utawala Estate, Nairobi (near Jomo Kenyatta International Airport) |
POINT OF ORIGIN | Reported to have come from DRC but also Meru National Park. DNA analysis has not been done to confirm. |
ACCUSED | Julius Abluu Adika, Abdinur Ibrahim Ali, Wesley Adweya, Hillary Karani, Rawling Innocent, Ronson Ogondi Njue, Ahmed Mohamud Salah alias Ahmed Mahabub Gedi |
CHARGED | Possession of Wildlife Trophies, Dealing in Wildlife Trophies, Acting in Concert with others contrary to Prevention of Organized Crimes Act |
COURT | Kibera |
VALUE (Charge Sheet) | Ksh 21, 676,000.00 (USD $ 216,000) |
OTHER CONTRABAND | Cutting machine, weight scales, packaging materials, generator |
TRANSPORT | Isuzu KCJ 042 |
ARRESTING AGENCY | National Police Service – Special Crimes Prevention Unit |
CONNECTIONS/LINKS |
|


10 key dealers nabbed and 289 kilos of ivory seized
MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE
Vehicle impounded with Sh21 Million ivory missing
by Clause Masika April 19th, 2019
Lawyer successfully applied for it to be released to owner
In Summary
