Nacada jets into Mombasa to probe fentanyl use

Reports indicate that fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, is now rampant in Mombasa.

Fentanyl is highly potent and mainly used as an analgesic. Its primary clinical utility is in pain management for cancer patients and those recovering from painful surgical operations.

It is a prescription drug that is also made and used illegally.

Its overdose can lead to an almost instant death.

The National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse will lead the multi-agency team comprising officers from the government chemist, Pharmacy and Poisons Board, Mombasa-based community based organisations and officers of the National Government Administration.

This comes after a viral video of alleged users in the county, sleeping while standing and some talking gibberish, supposedly high on the substance, flooded the social media recently.

“It is causing great trouble in use in the US currently,” Nacada corporate communications manager Simon Mwangi told the Star on phone.

According to America's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, drug deaths nationwide hit a new record in 2022.

Some 109,680 people died as the fentanyl crisis continued to deepen, according to preliminary data from centre.

Mwangi said the drug is very expensive and expressed doubt that it is the one being used in Mombasa.

However, he said they cannot leave anything to chance.

“We just want to conduct those tests so that we are sure it is not the one or it is the one. There are people who were saying it is fentanyl because it has the same symptoms,” Mwangi said.

Nacada said they will activate their networks on the ground to get samples of the drugs being used to test them.

“That is why the CSOs will be part of our team. We will use them to get samples for testing,” Mwangi said.

For a long time, Mombasa has been one of the leading counties in drug abuse.

Drug abuse is one of the agendas that UDA leaders in Mombasa have asked President William Ruto to deal with.

Nominated Senator Miraj Abdillahi told the Star the drug menace is making a comeback in the county after reducing significantly in yesteryears.

“I have been urging the President to deal firmly with this menace. We want President Ruto to seal all loopholes through which these drugs come into Kenya,” Abdillahi said. 

She said for a long time, the Mombasa port has been the gateway for the entry of drugs into the country and this has since reduced since the Kenya Kwanza regime took over power.

With the President in charge, the drugs menace will end, she told the Star.

On Tuesday, the Nacada-led multi-agency team will hold a meeting at the Mombasa county commissioner’s boardroom after which the team will proceed to selected drug dens, where samples for analysis will be collected.

Mwangi said after the sampling of the drugs, a report will be made and recommendations put forward.

“Appropriate action will then be taken after the exercise,” Mwangi said.

According to the 2022 Nacada National Survey on the Status of Drugs and Substance Use in Kenya, at least one in every six Kenyans aged 15–65 years (4,733,152) are currently using at least one drug or substance of abuse.

One in every three males aged 15–65 years (3,783,854) and one in every 16 females (949,298) were currently using at least one drug or substance of abuse.

The survey indicated that Western region had the highest prevalence of current use of at least one drug or substance of abuse (26.4 per cent) followed by Eastern (20.7 per cent) and Nairobi (19.1 per cent).