Between April and September, 2024, former Mexican police officer Alvarado Israel Vera led a team with two of his compatriots in setting up a clandestine drug laboratory, or clan lab , in a remote pocket of the sleepy Namanga border town.
Alongside Carlos Pedro and Ignacio Morales Alvarez, Mr Vera spent four months setting up equipment, receiving chemicals and trying to produce methamphetamine.
The trio was among several individuals whose activities, some unwittingly, were just about to lead several investigative agencies across the world to a critical operation of Mexican Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).
The Mexicans were not successful in their methamphetamine production at the time security agencies pounced, despite having all the chemicals they needed for the highly addictive drug.
On September 12, 2024, Kenya’s security agencies received a tip-off that there was a clandestine drug lab (clan lab) had been set up on a 10-acre land located approximately eight kilometres off the Nairobi-Namanga highway.
The tip was a culmination of efforts by multiple intelligence bodies across the world, including Kenya’s, and which was part of a cross-border investigation into the CJNG.
The Mexican cartel deals in, among other things, methamphetamine – a psychotropic drug whose popularity in the US, Europe and parts of Asia has made it a global menace fuelling an illicit multibillion-dollar industry.
The drug is also referred to as meth, crystal meth, ice, speed and others, all coined in an attempt to get codenames that can aid in trading it without attracting too much attention.
While the drug can in rare instances be used to manage attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the high potential of addiction and adverse side effects have seen most countries in the world ban its recreational use while restricting its prescription.
The day after receiving the tip-off, a multi-agency team comprised of Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers, government analysts, Pharmacy and Poisons Board personnel, Crime Scene Investigators and forensic analysts drove from Nairobi to Namanga, approximately 173km from the capital.
In Namanga, they drove down a rough road off the highway and, just as the tipster had mentioned, stumbled upon a methamphetamine lab operating out of two structures constructed using iron sheets.
There were three fences separating the structures from the land boundaries. The first two fences were barbed wire. The third was made from iron sheets.
One iron sheet structure was the actual meth lab while the other was a makeshift warehouse that doubled up as a bedroom and kitchen.
Paper trails, forensic analysis of mobile phones and other aspects of ensuing investigations saw the DCI officers arrest Kenyans Betty Mukami Micheni (50), Caroline Wambu Muchira (51) and Francis Maina Gachau (age undisclosed), Nigerians Agwu Ojukwu (53), Egwu Ogba (51), and Mexican Alvarado Israel Vera (41).
Security agencies had just bumped into a small but critical arm of the Mexican cartel, which helped lead investigators to other parts of the operation in Nigeria, South Africa, Gabon and India.
Ms Micheni, who has been passing off as a legitimate businesswoman, would import several chemicals, including sodium hydroxide flakes, tartaric acid, methylamine and mercuric chloride from Mumbai-based Aadish Impex Privet Company.
Ms Micheni was arrested on September 16, 2024, three days after the raid in Namanga. Evidence found in Namanga and further investigations pinned her as one of the brains behind the Kenyan operation.
She was arrested at her house in Ruiru, Kiambu County.
Ms Micheni used Betlink Supplies Ltd, a firm she registered on January 28, 2019, as the sole shareholder, to import the chemicals.
Three other Indian firms – Otto Chemie Pvt Ltd, Pushti Pharmachem Pvt Ltd and Anmol Chemicals Ltd – would inspect Ms Micheni’s consignments before they would be shipped to Kenya.
Once inside Kenya’s borders, the chemicals would be transported to a clandestine drug lab, better known as a clan lab, tucked inside a remote part of the sleepy Namanga town.
Ms Micheni also owns Enormed Pharma Ltd, incorporated on September 26, 2022 and also imports the same chemicals occasionally.
Mr Vera, a former investigator with the Mexican police service, would wait for the chemicals at the clan lab alongside Carlos Pedro and Ignacio Morales Alvarez.
The three Mexican nationals were flown from their home country to cook meth, which they did in a little corner in Namanga for an undisclosed period.
Mr Pedro and Mr Alvarez are on the run, but on watch lists of several countries across the world, including the US.
Mr Vera was arrested on October 5, 2024, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) as he tried to board a flight back to Mexico.
Court papers indicate that they operated the illegal lab between March and September 2024. But the actual time frame is wider.
Ms Micheni was one of the key pieces of the puzzle, Mr Ojukwu alias Deacon, Pastor, Felix and Bob.
Mr Ojukwu first came to Kenya in 2007, aged 36. His business empire stretches into Nigeria, South Africa, Gabon – the countries where other activities linked to the Kenyan clan lab continue – and China.
The Nigerian, now 53, has previously been linked to gold smuggling.
He was arrested on October 3, 2024, at the JKIA, as he tried to board a flight back to Nigeria.
Mr Ojukwu was found in possession of construction plans for the meth lab, the mother title deed from which the 10-acre land was excised from, and other documents that are now considered evidence.
His cousin Mr Ogba, declares second-hand clothes dealings as his legitimate source of income in Kenya. In Nigeria, Mr Ogba owns Ngara Associate Investment Company, which owns nine trucks used in a logistics business.
Mr Ogba was arrested at his house in Lavington on October 1, 2024.
Ojukwu’s wife, Florence Wangare, is the registered owner of the 10-acre land which hosted the clan lab.
Another woman, Caroline Wambui Muchira, is also believed to have assisted Ogba in sourcing for chemicals for meth production. Ms Muchira was also arrested by the DCI on October 9, 2024.
Ms Mukami on her end allegedly got assistance to source chemicals from Juja-based businessman Francis Maina Gachau, who was arrested on November 13, 2024.
During a search of his house, investigators found chemicals and forged documents with letterheads of renowned pharmaceutical companies. Some of the documents connected to another set found in Ms Micheni’s house.
Investigators are now trying to get assistance from Nigerian authorities to unearth accomplices of Mr Ojukwu and Mr Ogba. The two Nigerians are believed to be financiers of the meth lab.
The cross-border collaborations will lead investigators in seeking information from Mexico, which may help in arresting Mr Pedro and Mr Alvarez.
In India, corroboration of documents linking Ms Mukami to the Indian firms that allegedly supplied the chemicals for cooking meth, as well as ownership records of the companies is being sought.
Particularly in relation to Mr Ojukwu, investigators believe that the Nigerian has been laundering proceeds of crime through businesses in South Africa and Gabon, and are seeking assistance with information that would strengthen the case being built.
In South Africa, Mr Ojukwu owns the Kings Lodge in North Cliff, Johannesburg.
In Gabon, his Jacome Ltd does assorted business.
