Police seize cocaine valued at Sh400 million at Mombasa port

MOMBASA: A contingent of police officers Friday cordoned off Mombasa port police station after what police sources said was cocaine worth Sh400 million was discovered stashed containers.

A combined team of regular police and those from the anti-narcotics unit then began the verification exercise of four containers to verify the narcotics.

The officers who spoke to The Standard said one of the containers which inspected was found with cocaine although the actual value of the narcotic had not been established but investigators estimated that it was worth between Sh350 million to Sh400 million.

Mombasa County Commissioner Maalim Mohamed confirmed that four containers that arrived yesterday morning were seized by the police following intelligence that they contained narcotics.

“I can neither confirm nor deny whether the containers contain narcotics or drug substances. Yes we received intelligence information to that effect and currently verification process is underway,” said Maalim.

Sources at port indicated that the four containers were offloaded at berth 16 at the port at around 5.30am by a MSC Nacole which arrived from Venezuela.

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Sources at the port of Mombasa said that the Panama flagged MSC Nacole and MSC Posetano have been on police radar and on Friday reports indicated up to seven containers were seized in the operation.

Police bosses in Mombasa remained tight-lipped but sources indicated that the containers contained 45 kilogram bags labeled lactose sugar.

Head of Anti-narcotic unit Hamis Massa declined to divulge information saying “you have to wait because there are allot of things going on still.”

But Maalim said confirmed that a multi-agency team was conducting the verification exercise at the port and that details of its content will be released after the police complete their investigations.

Sources indicated that the cocaine was found stashed in one of the containers containing sachets labelled Lactose sugar and sealed in packets inside bags weighing 45 kilograms.

Mombasa Port has been in the recent past cited as a major transit point for narcotic and contraband cargo and since last year elite police units have made several impromptu raids at the facility.

The containers seized yesterday according to sources at the port were destined for Uganda but investigators claim they could have been diverted into the local market.

Since 2014, the government has stepped up the war on narcotic in the country and in August the same year president Uhuru Kenyatta supervised the destruction of a drug laden ship.

Mv Bushehr Amin Darya also known as Al Noor which was registered in Iran was destroyed at the high seas with the heroin valued at Sh1.3 billion.

Mombasa and Coast region in general is the worst hit by the drug abuse with the National Campaign against Alcohol and Drugs Authority (NACADA) indicating that thousands of youths are affected by the drugs.

Last year, on August 14, 2015 the military also blew up a Singaporean registered luxury yacht off the Mombasa coast which police said was found stuffed with narcotics in Kilifi.

Anti-narcotics detectives estimated the heroin seized on the yacht, Mv Baby Iris, to be worth Sh22 million.
The largest drug haul to be made in Kenya’s history involved the capture in 2004 of cocaine worth Sh.5.3 billion in Malindi.

In 2013, a container suspected to contain high grade cocaine arrived Mombasa aboard a ship christened MCS Reunion from the Netherlands.