Two women arrested with an estimated 8kg of heroin at Isinya

Isinya, Kenya: Two Kenyan women were arrested at a police roadblock while trafficking narcotics believed to be heroin on Friday.

The value and weight of the white powder are yet to be determined, police said.

The two were arrested at Isinya along the Namanga-Nairobi highway as they headed to the Kenyan capital with the drugs stuck in their bags.

Officers from the Anti-Narcotics Unit at DCI headquarters were acting on a tip off when they made the arrests and seizure.

Head of the unit Hamisi Massa said the women were arriving from Tanzania when they were intercepted at a roadblock.

"We found a white substance that we believe is narcotics. We are yet to weigh and test to know the nature and value," said Massa.

Those who saw the haul said it could be weighing between five and ten kilos. The route is notorious with heroin which is consumed in Nairobi illegally.

The women were taken to custody and would be arraigned on Monday.

Last year, almost five such seizures were made on the route.

Anti-narcotics police officers say most of the drugs being consumed in Nairobi originate Tanzania through the Namanga border. The traffickers had also been avoiding airports for roads, which are poorly manned to traffic the drugs.

Most of the narcotics that are seized are cocaine and heroin.

Statistics show police at the airport seized drugs valued more than Sh100 million last year alone. Most of those arrested were passengers who were on transit.