Kenyan Woman Arrested at JKIA With Cocaine Worth Ksh13.5 Million
A Kenyan woman on the radar of anti-narcotics investigators since last year has been arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) while allegedly attempting to leave the country with cocaine valued at approximately Ksh13.5 million.
Jane Waithera Wateri was intercepted at the Nairobi airport as she prepared to travel to Bangladesh, according to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
Detectives from Kenya Airports Criminal Investigations (KACI) reportedly recovered three small bags containing suspected narcotics during a search.
The substance was subjected to a preliminary field test, which returned positive for cocaine. Authorities said the consignment weighed approximately 3,383 grams and had an estimated street value of Ksh13,530,720.
In a statement, the DCI said: “A search conducted upon her interception led to the recovery of three small bags containing suspected narcotic drugs.”
The agency added: “A preliminary field test returned positive for cocaine, with the consignment weighing approximately 3383 grams and having an estimated street value of Ksh13,530,720.”
Suspect was on law-enforcement watch list
According to investigators, Wateri had been declared wanted by the National Anti-Narcotics Investigations Bureau (NANIB) over alleged involvement in narcotics trafficking.
The DCI said she had been on the law-enforcement watch list since last year, although details of the earlier investigations were not immediately disclosed.
Wateri remains in police custody at the JKIA Police Station, where she is being questioned by detectives from the Anti-Narcotics Investigations Bureau (ANIB) and the Financial Investigations Unit (FIU).
Investigators are pursuing additional leads as they seek to establish whether the arrest could help uncover a wider narcotics trafficking network.
Warning to traffickers
KACI Director B. Kanyai warned individuals involved in the transportation of illegal narcotics that authorities would continue targeting attempts to use Kenyan airports as transit points.
Kanyai said KACI, working alongside other law-enforcement agencies, remained committed to preventing the country’s airports from being used as conduits for the illicit drug trade.
The arrest comes amid heightened attention on narcotics trafficking in Kenya.
Just days earlier, authorities oversaw the destruction of methamphetamine valued at about Ksh8.2 billion after the drugs were seized from a ship in the Indian Ocean.
Speaking during the destruction exercise, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen reiterated the government’s position against drug trafficking.
Murkomen also warned that authorities would pursue people and property allegedly connected to the narcotics trade.
He said the government would seek not only to seize illicit drugs but also target land used for drug distribution and processing, describing such assets as proceeds of crime.
The Interior CS further said similar measures would be applied to people involved in the illicit brew trade.
The investigation into Wateri’s case is continuing, and authorities have not indicated whether additional arrests will follow.
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