Editor's Review

According to the DCI, the suspect has been on the law-enforcement watch list since last year.


A woman who had been declared 'Wanted' by the National Anti-Narcotics Investigations Bureau (NANIB) for alleged narcotic trafficking was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) with cocaine worth Ksh13.5 million.

In a report issued by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the suspect, Jane Waithera Wateri, was intercepted as she tried to fly out to Bangladesh.

Officers from Kenya Airports Criminal Investigations (KACI) recovered 3,383 grams of cocaine from Wateri, which was concealed in small bags.

"A search conducted upon her interception led to the recovery of three small bags containing suspected narcotic drugs.

"A preliminary field test returned positive for cocaine, with the consignment weighing approximately 3383 grams and having an estimated street value of Ksh13,530,720," the DCI wrote.

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A file photo of the DCI Headquarters along Kiambu Road.

Wateri is currently in police custody at the JKIA Police Station, where she is being questioned by detectives from ANIB and the Financial Investigations Unit (FIU).

The investigating officers are seeking to pursue further leads to establish the full extent of the suspected narcotics trafficking network.

Kenya Airports Criminal Investigations (KACI) Director B. Kanyai warned that those seeking to use the country’s airports as a gateway for the illicit narcotics trade will face the full force of the law.

Kanyai assured that KACI, in partnership with other law-enforcement agencies, remains resolute in ensuring that Kenyan airports are not turned into conduits for narcotics trafficking.

According to the DCI, the suspect has been on the law-enforcement watch list since last year.

The arrest came just days after Kenya destroyed methamphetamine worth Ksh8.2 billion seized from a ship in the Indian Ocean. Mombasa

Speaking during the event, the Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen reiterated that the government will not condone drug trafficking in the country.

Murkomen also turned to the accomplices of the traffickers, stating that the government will not only take hold of the drugs, but also take over the land where the distribution and processing factories are located.

He stated that the same strict measures will be applied to individuals caught in the illicit brew business because the state considers them proceeds of crime.