Nairobi court clears way for Afghan politician’s extradition to US
The arrest took place in Nairobi on April 14, 2025, when Qadir was detained by Kenyan police at a local hotel shortly after landing on a Qatar Airways flight.
A Nairobi court has approved the extradition of Abdul Zahir Qadir, a former deputy speaker of Afghanistan’s parliament, to the United States, where he faces criminal charges related to narcotics trafficking and illegal firearm possession.
Magistrate BenMark Ekhubi, who delivered the ruling on Tuesday, found that the request filed by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) had enough merit to justify the extradition.
The request followed a formal appeal from the U.S. government through the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"In my view, the threshold has been met by the applicant. I find the application to be merited, and I hereby endorse the warrants of arrest. I consequently direct that the accused person be surrendered and extradited to the United States to face the subject charges," Magistrate Ekhubi stated.
The arrest took place in Nairobi on April 14, 2025, when Qadir was detained by Kenyan police at a local hotel shortly after landing on a Qatar Airways flight.
The arrest was made following intelligence provided by U.S. agents and based on an extradition request.
Court records show that the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York had issued an arrest warrant on March 25, 2025.
The charges against Qadir include plans to smuggle drugs into the U.S. and possessing a machine gun without legal authority.
According to DEA special agent Nicholas DiFrancesco, Qadir has already been named in a formal complaint and is suspected to play a major role in a widespread international drug operation.
Kenyan prosecutors informed the court that the U.S. had raised alarms over Qadir possibly escaping to a country that does not have an extradition agreement, which could affect ongoing efforts to prosecute others believed to be part of the same network.
On April 15, the Attorney General had been granted permission to hold Qadir in custody while the extradition case was still pending.
Prosecutors argued that releasing him could threaten both the court process and the investigations being carried out by foreign and local authorities.
Officials from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations later confirmed that Qadir remained in custody following the court’s decision.
Authorities also pushed back against claims from Qadir’s family, who earlier said he had been held in Dubai.
Kenyan officers dismissed those reports as false, maintaining that he had been arrested locally and had not been in custody in any other country.
The court's ruling marks a major step in the extradition process, setting the stage for Qadir’s transfer to face the charges in a U.S. court.
