KQ issues statement after its passenger was nabbed with Sh127m heroin

Kenya Airways planes at a parking inside JKIA in Nairobi on November 06,2022. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

The Kenya Airways (KQ) has issued a statement after its passenger was arrested at the Mumbai International Airport with 22.9 kilogrammes of heroin worth Sh127 million.

Rukshana Shaikh was nabbed on Thursday, February 16 at the Indian airport upon arrival from Harare, Zimbabwe.

KQ, in a statement released on Friday, February 17, said: "Kenya Airways (KQ) has received information that one of our guests on transit was detained by the Indian security agencies at Mumbai Airport for allegedly being in possession of narcotics.

"The matter is under investigation, and KQ is cooperating with the investigating agencies. KQ has zero tolerance towards any action by its guests or employees that contravenes local or international laws prevalent in the countries of its operations."

Police in India said the heroin that Shaikh was in possession of had been concealed in file folders and trolley bags disguised as cream-coloured granules.

"Two others, Amir Sayyed and Raees Meerza, who are Shaikh's alleged accomplices were also arrested after they showed up at the airport to pick her up," The Indian Express reported.

The news outlet reported that police received a tip-off from an informant that Shaikh was trafficking drugs, and that she went to Zimbabwe via Addis Ababa on February 7.

The Hindustan Times reported that Shaikh, under the instructions of a Nigerian national based in India, was given two bags at a Harare hotel, and was aware that the package contained drugs.

Police said she, nonetheless, accepted to smuggle them into India.

"On examination, the substance tested positive for heroin. She had tried to conceal the substance inside the trolley bags and file folders," India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said.