Today marks a week since Mohammed Asif Hafeez, alias “Sultan,” began serving a 16-year sentence in a New York federal prison.
Hafeez, 69, was sentenced six months after pleading guilty in November 2024 to conspiring to import heroin, methamphetamine, and hashish into the United States.
“The defendant pleaded guilty today before US Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron, and will be sentenced by US District Judge Victor Marrero,” a statement by the Attorney General of the US released on November 18, 2024, read in part.
He fought extradition through European courts for over 18 months until May 12, 2023, when he was finally handed over to US custody.
Hafeez’s lawyer, Syed Khurram, told The Nation that his client later chose to cease legal resistance in London, preferring to face charges in the United States.
“We were able to fight in a European court for more than 18 months. On May 11, just a day before being extradited, he asked for the process to stop and we complied,” Mr Khurram said.
Following his transfer, updates on the case became scarce. Hafeez’s legal team refrained from releasing any details to his family.
Court records, however, revealed his central role in the Akasha Organisation’s narcotics trade, a powerful syndicate headed by Baktash Akasha Abdalla.
Court documents indicate that in October 2014, Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, acting on behalf of Hafeez and the Akashas, delivered a 1-kilogram heroin sample to confidential sources working for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Nairobi.
Just a month later, he handed over an additional 98 kilogrammes of heroin. A recorded meeting captured Baktash boasting that Hafeez had distributed “tons” of narcotics alongside the Akasha family.
US authorities further alleged that from 1993 to 2017, Hafeez imported hashish into North America and Europe, and pursued plans to establish a methamphetamine production facility in Mozambique.
He and co-conspirators envisioned manufacturing methamphetamine for both American and European markets, a scheme that underscored the international ambitions of the syndicate.
“Baktash Akasha Abdalla was the leader of an organised crime family in Kenya (the “Akasha Organisation”), head of operations and principal distributor of ton quantities of narcotics within Kenya and throughout Africa and maintained a network used to distribute narcotics for importation into the US,” the court documents reveal.
Others are Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, Baktash’s brother, who arranged bulk heroin delivery as well as Gulam Hussein and Vijaygiri “Vicky” Anandgiri Goswami, both co-conspirators.
Goswami, an Indian national arrested in Mombasa in 2015, later pleaded guilty in 2019 and testified against the Akashas. Sentencing is pending.
At present, Baktash is serving 25 years in a US federal prison; Ibrahim is serving 23 years, while Goswami awaits sentencing after cooperating with the prosecution.
Hafeez managed a double life as publicly, he was a legitimate businessman and royal acquaintance but covertly, he was a key facilitator in the Akasha drug empire.
As director of Sarwani International Corporation, with branches in Pakistan, Dubai, and the UK, Hafeez supplied technical equipment to governments.
He often cited these business activities and even claimed royal connections during legal proceedings in London to contest his extradition, arguing that his business contributions contrasted sharply with the serious charges against him.
More controversially, he allegedly acted as an informant, feeding intelligence to UK and Middle East authorities to thwart rival drug shipments.
Emails submitted to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) show he received official appreciation for sharing such information, and he argued that his cooperation would have placed him in danger had he been extradited to the U.S. Without successful appeals, he was ultimately sent to New York.
During extradition proceedings, Hafeez’s health notably asthma and type 2 diabetes — became a key defense point.
However, US courts dismissed these concerns and his appeal to the ECHR failed, paving the way for his transfer and eventual imprisonment.
Hafeez’s conviction marks a major blow to the transnational operations of the Akasha crime organisation.
“I thank our partners at the DEA’s Special Operations Division for their incredible work and dedication to this case, which took years to investigate and prosecute.”
He added that “these convictions send a clear message: transnational drug traffickers cannot evade justice, no matter where they operate.”
Hafeez’s 16-year sentence exceeds most federal guidelines for international drug trafficking and is reflective of the vast quantity of narcotics involved.
The case is also likely to reveal new layers of the network including financiers, corrupt officials, and hidden couriers through ongoing investigations and witness testimonies, like that of Goswami.
