Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has announced that narcotics worth Sh8 billion, seized in a major maritime operation off the Kenyan coast, will be publicly destroyed in the coming days.
Speaking on Sunday during a church service at AIC Kisumu Arina Local Church, Murkomen further said the suspects arrested in connection with the seizure will soon be arraigned in court.
“We have resolved as a nation that we must fight drugs, illicit alcohol, and all kinds of things that are destroying the lives of our people,” the CS stated.
Six foreign nationals were arrested aboard the vessel and remain in lawful custody.
They are currently under interrogation and will face charges once preliminary investigations are concluded.
According to Murkomen, initial tests conducted by government chemists confirmed that the seized substance is methamphetamine with 98 percent purity. The drugs are undergoing further forensic analysis and documentation before destruction.
“This decisive intervention, led by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) with support from the Kenya Navy, the Kenya Coast Guard Service, National Intelligence Service, Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Revenue Authority, the Government Chemist, and other partner agencies, forms part of our contribution to global efforts to dismantle transnational organised crime networks, including narcotics trafficking, terrorism financing, and illicit financial flows,” Murkomen said.
He added that Kenya will collaborate with international partners to trace and disrupt the broader criminal network linked to the shipment, which he described as one of the largest drug seizures in recent years.
“We are progressively heightening our multi-agency security coordination framework and the vigilance of our maritime surveillance systems,” Murkomen added.
“We also remain steadfast in our commitment to strengthen inter-agency cooperation, enhance maritime and border security, and reinforce partnerships with regional and global allies to combat the production, movement, and financing of illicit substances.”
The methamphetamine consignment was intercepted on Friday in the high seas by a multi-agency security team in an operation code-named Bahari Safi.
Kenya Navy deputy commander Brigadier Sankale Kisua, who led the mission, said the drugs were discovered aboard a stateless vessel named Mashallah, approximately 630 kilometres east of Mombasa.
“For the last four days, we’ve been conducting an operation where the Kenya Navy intercepted this suspicious vessel and escorted it to Mombasa port,” Brigadier Kisua said during a briefing at the port on Saturday evening.
A search by officers from the Kenya Navy, the DCI, and the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (Nacada) uncovered 1,024 kilograms—equivalent to 1.24 tonnes—of synthetic methamphetamine packed in sacks.
“This is a big success for the Kenyan security teams,” Brigadier Kisua said, noting that the seizure underscores the growing threat of narcotics trafficking through East African waters.
