By CYRUS OMBATI
Kenya: Australia now says the over one tonne of heroin valued at more than Sh25 billion was seized on the international waters and not in Kenyan territory in the Indian Ocean.
The Australian High Commission in Nairobi said no Australian asset entered Kenya’s territorial waters during the seizure.
“Australia currently has no information that links this incident to Kenya. The reference to Kenya in the Australian media release was to provide background geographical information only,” said a statement released by embassy spokesman Simon Anderson.
The statement, issued a day after Australian High Commissioner in Nairobi Geoff Tooth was summoned over the seizure, added the dhow carrying the haul was deemed stateless when it was seized on April 24.
Tooth met Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed after initial reports indicated authorities were kept in the dark regarding the shipment, which was seized by the Australian Navy in the Indian Ocean last Thursday.
The heroin was packed in 46 sacks hidden among bags of cement and was being transported in a dhow that was sailing approximately 27 nautical miles from the Kenyan coastline.
Details about the seizure remained unknown, including the direction the vessel was moving when it was intercepted.
BIGGEST HAUL
Police and the military said they did not have details on the haul, which was deemed the biggest in the region. Details about the origin and the destination of the dhow, whether there were any suspects arrested as well as their whereabouts and that of the boat were not revealed by the Australian Navy, which announced the capture last Friday.
The Navy said the drug haul was destroyed at sea but did not reveal the identity of the boat, its owners, as well as the country it was registered in, and the fate of the crew.
“We have no information that links the boat or cargo to Kenya. We believe this is an important event in the international fight against illegal drugs,” said Anderson.
HMAS Darwin is currently deployed on patrol under tasking to the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and the UK-led Combined Task Force (CTF) 150.
Other officials in the maritime industry said the 1,032kg of heroin was seized in one of two notorious vessels used for illegal trade along the East African Coast and is partly owned by Kenyans.
Kenya has in the past been listed as a key transit country for drugs destined for Europe and America.
The two boats, according to our sources, are said to be predominantly used along the East Africa coast and have been tracked from Somalia.
