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Kenyan police nab Guinean with 11.8 kg of heroin

Xinhua, March 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenya's anti-narcotics police were on Sunday interrogating a Guinean national who was arrested at the country's main airport in Nairobi with 11.8 kilograms of heroin.

Airport CID commander Judy Jebet said Sunday the Guinean, Ramady Diakite, who was travelling from Tanzania's northern town of Arusha to Bamako, Mali was intercepted at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Friday evening.

"The suspect concealed the drugs as cosmetics when they were detected by anti-narcotics officials at the airport. This is a good catch and warning to others. The suspect will appear in court on Monday," Jebet said by telephone, adding that the drugs are valued at around 389,000 U.S. dollars.

The UN has identified the East African nation as a drug transport hub for drugs going to Europe from Asia and Middle East. Traffickers have increasingly become smarter because of improved surveillance at the airports and have now resorted to using roads to reach their intended destinations.

Analysts say drug trafficking is also a threat to political stability in eastern Africa region because beneficiaries can use the illicit money to influence government decision or support insurgents groups to fight legitimate governments.

Cases of drug trafficking through JKIA have been on the rise with police making several arrests and seizures.

Anti-narcotics police officers say most of the drugs being consumed in Nairobi originate from Tanzania through the Namanga border.

Most of the narcotics that are seized are cocaine and heroin. Statistics show police at the airport seized drugs valued more than 16.4 million dollars last year alone. And most of those arrested were passengers who were on transit.

According to latest police statistics, some 1,359 cases of drug trafficking were detected in Kenya in 2014 and 1,513 suspects arrested. Endi