Three people, including two civil servants, have been arrested in Nairobi as they tried to smuggle psychotropic drugs valued at Sh4 million to Tokyo, Japan.
One of the suspects identified by police is a tour guide van driver. He delivered the two kilogrammes of the drugs to the Foreign Affairs Ministry headquarters to be dispatched as a diplomatic bag.
The second suspect serves as a driver to the Chief Protocol Officer at Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the third is a former Protocol Officer now working at the Ministry of Justice.
Police said they had been tipped off about the delivery on Tuesday evening when the arrests were made.
They were later charged in court with attempting to smuggle the drugs to Tokyo.
According to Nairobi Area head of CID Nicholas Kamwende, the suspects had packaged the drugs as a diplomatic bag to avoid scrutiny and suspicion at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Kamwende added they are trying to establish if the practice has been an ongoing exercise and that the drugs they had are banned.
“Apparently diplomatic luggage attract less attention and that is why they were using the means to smuggle the narcotics,” said Kamwende.
He added they are investigating to know if there are more of such drugs in the country and those behind them.
The seizure came days after Police at the airport arrested a Spanish with 10 kilogrammes of cocaine valued at Sh41 million.
The suspect had arrived from Brazil and was headed for West Africa when he was nabbed. His case is pending before court.
Police say they have intensified vigilance at the airport to deter cases of drug trafficking that had been on the rise.
