The Lebanese who is wanted in the US for drug-related offences and was arrested in a Nairobi Hotel on Thursday in an operation by detectives from the AntiNarcotics Unit (ANU) will be extradited to the US to face the charges. Antoine Kassis Elias, holder of passport number LR3055611, arrived in Nairobi on the night of February 25 aboard Qatar Airways and proceeded to Windsor Hotel where he was later arrested.

Officials said there was a Red Notice on him from Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) in Washington USA and an arrest warrant issued by the United States of America District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The arrest followed a Red Notice Number 2025/15868 from NCB Washington USA and an arrest warrant issued by the USA District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia,” police said. Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ ANU conducted a thorough search inside his hotel room where two mobile phones, a purse with money and his travel documents were picked up.

“The suspect was detained at Gigiri police station ahead of planned arraignment for his extradition. He will be arraigned in court for the extradition process to commence,” police said.

Both Kenya and the US take concrete actions within the International Police Criminal Organization (Interpol) framework to improve police coordination, timely and accurate sharing of information and criminal intelligence, operational support and even joint investigations. In September last year, Kenya also extradited murder suspect, Kevin Kinyanjui Kangether who had been accused of murdering Margaret Mbitu.

Kangethe fled to Kenya after the killing and was later arrested and escaped from jail before he was re-arrested. He was charged at Suffolk Superior Court in Boston where he denied the charges.

The case has its roots in a troubled romantic relationship between Kang’ethe and Mbitu, characterized by repeated incidents of domestic violence, according to reports. The situation escalated in 2023 when Kang’ethe allegedly murdered Mbitu and then fled to Kenya in an attempt to evade US law enforcement.

His flight to Kenya marked the beginning of a high-stakes manhunt that eventually led to his capture. Elsewhere in Nairobi, the case against gold scammer Jean Emmanuel Morlon, also known as Lamarca J. Benjamin will be mentioned today at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Law Courts. Morlon was charged by detectives from the Kenya Airport Police Unit (Formation Criminal Investigations Officer – KAPU) at JKIA on February 4.

The court ordered that he be detained at the Industrial Area Remand Prison as detectives complete investigations. The suspect is implicated in a gold scam that left two businessmen, a Romanian national and a Swiss national seeking justice after losing US$ 120,000 to the fraudster.

He was charged with Obtaining Money by False Pretenses, Possession of a Firearm Without a Firearm Certificate, Possession of Ammunition Without a Firearm Certificate, Creating a False Document, and Forgery of an Official Document.

The investigating team objected to his release on bail, citing concerns that he could be a flight risk. Morlon, the mastermind and alleged CEO of AFREX Bridge Connections Ltd, was arrested together with Samson Kibet Sirkoi, Lucy Gitonga, Rose Kambua and Justine Adhiambo.

When they were arrested, detectives also recovered two pistols, 96 rounds of ammunition, 14 smoke grenades, a bulletproof vest, and a pair of handcuffs among other items. The victims reported that they had been approached by a contact person who informed them that the prime suspect, Lamarca, was in the business of selling 550kg of gold.