A man accused of running a human trafficking syndicate was detained for ten days to allow police to complete investigations.
The Kahawa Law Courts ordered that Edward Kamau Gituku be held at Muthaiga Police Station after prosecutors from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) applied for his continued detention.
According to investigators, Gituku is suspected of being at the helm of a transnational trafficking ring ferrying Kenyans to Moscow, Russia, where victims are allegedly subjected to exploitation.
In an affidavit, Sergeant Bramwel Saima of the Transnational Organised Crime Unit said police, acting on intelligence, raided Great Wall Gardens Estate in Athi River, Machakos County, on September 25, 2025.
During the operation, the team rescued 22 Kenyan nationals believed to be victims of human trafficking.
The houses where the victims were found were reportedly rented by Gituku.
A search conducted in his presence led to the recovery of several passports and a Samsung Galaxy phone, which has since been forwarded to the DCI Cybercrime Unit for forensic analysis.
The court was further told that one of the victims who had earlier been trafficked to Russia had returned to Kenya and was hospitalized awaiting surgery.
Prosecutors argued that releasing Gituku could jeopardize ongoing investigations, compromise witnesses, and hinder efforts to track down accomplices still on the run.
Investigators also sought time to conduct identification parades, record victim statements, and review electronic evidence from the seized devices.
“It is in the interest of justice that the respondent remains in custody to enable investigators to conclude their work,” Sgt. Saima stated.
Granting the request, the magistrate authorized Gituku’s detention at Muthaiga Police Station for ten days and permitted forensic examination of the recovered phone.
The case adds to growing concern over the trafficking of Kenyan youth abroad under false promises.
Police arrested a Russian national in connection the illegal recruitment of Kenyans to fight for Russia.
The probe led to the arrest of one Mike Lyapin, a Russian national and an employee at the embassy in Nairobi is a key player in the cartel trafficking Kenyans to Russia to join the military.
He was deported on Friday.
The arrest on Thursday evening came after the security agencies rescued 22 Kenyans from rented apartments where they were unknowingly being processed to travel to Russia.
Lyapin who first came to Kenya on March 6, 2017 was booked at Muthaiga Police cells awaiting his deportation.
The security officers continue to caution Kenyans from being duped with lucrative offers of employment in Russia as they will end up being forcefully enlisted in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Officials said they are pursuing more suspects in the saga.
This is after it emerged more than a dozen Kenyans had left for Russia for the mission.
Kenya’s security agencies on Wednesday unravelled the mysterious human trafficking syndicate which has been recruiting Kenyans in the guise of work in Moscow, Russia but end up joining Russian military.
The group is later deployed to the war front with Ukraine.
This success was borne out of a multi-agency approach where officers drawn across security agencies focused on the vice after it was established Kenyans were being duped to pay huge amounts to secure employment in Russia but end up fighting with Ukraine forces where some are reported to be killed and those who survive are maimed, bear wounds of torture or a psychologically disturbed.
Two Kenyans returned to the country recently from Russia and one is admitted at Kenyatta National Hospital.
