KRA officers at JKIA intercept Kisumu bound heroin from China

 Nairobi, Kenya: A team of Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) Officers, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), have seized a package heroin earlier sent from China to a Kisumu address, via an international courier company.

The officers, attached to the KRA Customs and Border Control division, intercepted the package at the DHL JKIA Warehouses and managed to seize the one kilogram parcel containing a narcotic substance suspected to be heroin.

KRA Customs and Border Control Commissioner, Julius Musyoki, said, the package containing the white narcotic substance, had been concealed in a parcel earlier declared as Massage pens.

Security agencies drawn from the Anti-Narcotics Unit have now taken over the investigation process.

All parcels and letters shipping through any of the local entry points, he added will continue to be subjected to mandatory screening procedures.

Unlike in previous instances where such seizures have largely been on outbound (export) parcels, the interception yesterday, was on a package consigned for delivery to Kisumu.

“At all the ports of entry, we have significantly enhanced our capacity to identify narcotics and other illicit products as part of the KRA Customs and Border Control function,” Musyoki said, adding, “our officers have also intensified screening procedures on all cargo entering or leaving the country.”

Following the seizure, the authority have cautioned international courier companies to exercise internal surveillance measures to avoid being used as conduits by unscrupulous drug traffickers.

This comes a week after the officers foiled an attempt by drug traffickers to export a postal mail package loaded, with bhang through the airport.

The officers seized the six kilograms parcel destined for the United Kingdom, from Senegal.

The carefully concealed package, marked as dried fish, had been delivered for onward delivery to the UK via Benin through the Post Office mail service, from a Senegalese address.

Musyoki said preliminary tests have identified the narcotic substance as Cannabis Sativa (Bhang) and added that further tests are now underway, at the Authority’s Laboratory, seeking, to positively identify the package contents.

“Our officers assisted by sniffer dogs among other technology solutions have been on very high alert to ensure that prohibited substances are not exported or imported through our border points. The discovery at the Postal Corporation facility will be further investigated to ensure that the culprits are brought to book,” Musyoko said.

Kenya is the main transit point of many international parcels. Drug traffickers usually use the airport to receive and send their narcotics undetected. Some traffic them while others send them as parcels.

Response from DHL

"We have stringent security measures in place both to detect and prevent attempts to transport illegal substances via our network, and we cooperate closely with the respective law enforcement authorities. We can confirm that as a result of our screening procedures, we intercepted a shipment that we deemed to be suspicious. We have handed the shipment over to the authorities for further investigation" said Andrew Mutuma, Country Manager, DHL.