Heroin haul ‘came from Pakistan’

Security agencies suspect a Pakistani link in the Sh23.2 billion heroin   seized and destroyed by Australian Navy off the Kenyan coast recently.

According to the Times of India, the Gujarat-registered dhow Lakshmi Narayan could have been linked to the intercepted 1,032 kilogramme of heroin found hidden among cement bags.

On Sunday, officials at the Mombasa port who talked to the Nation on condition that they are  not named said the vessel called the search and rescue centre saying it was in distress as  water was getting in.

“After they called saying they wanted to call at the Mombasa port they were given permission to dock at the Kilindini port but they instead docked at the Old Port,” the official said.

He said it was surprising that immediately the dhow docked the crew members disappeared.

“Under normal circumstances the crew should have waited for the dhow to be repaired if indeed it was letting in water and then sail away.”

Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo yesterday said they had not established if the vessel was linked to the heroin haul.

“We are investigating the matter to establish if the dhow was linked to the heroin intercepted by Australian Navy off Kenyan coast,” he said.

CHARTERED VESSEL

According to the Times, intelligence agencies involved in the investigations suspect a Dawood gang’s hand in the smuggling.

“We suspect that the heroin consignment was loaded from an isolated coast of Pakistan and that the Pakistani national might have got into the vessel from there,” said a senior official.

The dhow  belonged to a Veraval-based shipping company, which is owned by Ashok Parmar.

Mr Parmar told the police that he had chartered the vessel to Salaya-based Haji Bashir alias Hajabhai Kathiriya last October  and that it was carrying livestock between Tuna port in Kutch and West Asia.

Director-General of Police PC Thakur had on Friday ordered an inquiry into the incident by CID headed by Additional Director -General Pramod Kumar.

Six crew members of the vessel, who returned to Jamnagar from Kenya, were questioned.

There were nine crew members from Gujarat aboard the dhow. The other three have reached India and will be questioned in Jamnagar, sources said.

The ship, which was searched by police at Mombasa’s Old Port bears an uncanny resemblance with the images of drugs vessel that the Australian Navy said it had intercepted and found to be loaded with heroin.

The vessel also had cement like the one intercepted by the Australian Navy.

Last week, Nairobi lawyer Cliff Ombeta, said two Pakistanis in Kenya had been linked to the narcotics. The lawyer, who represents the suspects, said police had contacted him seeking information about the whereabouts of his clients.