Detectives search for owner of house in heroin haul

Detectives are hunting for a woman whose house in Kikambala, Kilifi County, was found with 92kg of heroin worth Sh300 million.

The drugs were recovered by a team of officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the anti-narcotics unit after they raided the house.

RAID

The officers gained access into the two-bedroom house through a window and found the drugs stashed in two black suitcases.

The tenant is said to have escaped after she got wind of the planned raid.

MANHUNT

A parastatal official is also linked to the house.

“It remains unclear how the woman (name withheld) got to know of the impending operation. But police have launched a manhunt for her and the alleged owner of the consignment,” reads a police statement seen by the Nation.

The operation was conducted on Thursday at around 6.30am by the more than 10 security agents who were in plain clothes.

Coast regional police boss Noah Mvivanda, in an interview, said the drugs will be taken to the government chemist for further analysis.

“After there we will be able to get a detailed report, but for now let the due process be completed,” said Mr Mwivanda at his office in Mombasa.

FOREIGNERS

The owner of the drugs was described by police as a regional drug baron who operates between Kenya and Tanzania.

A number of Tanzanian nationals are among residents who have dominated the area where the drugs were found.

In the last few months, Tanzanian nationals have been among those who have been arrested in different drug raids in the coastal region.

In March, three Tanzanian businessmen were arrested by the multiagency security team for smuggling heroin worth Sh30 million into the country.

The suspects were arrested a Mombasa hotel. They were accused of transporting 30 kilograms of heroin in a Mombasa bound bus from Tanzania through the Lunga Lunga border.

IMMIGRANTS

The drugs were hidden in three large suitcases filled with clothes. The three men, all in their forties have a pending case at the Mombasa court.

In August, at least 27 Tanzanian nationals were deported after they were arrested in Mombasa during the ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Security agents in Mombasa handed the 27 suspects over to the Immigration Department to deport them.

They were among other immigrants from Congo, Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia who were arrested for not possessing legal traveling documents.

Some of the foreigners have adversely been linked with illegal businesses among them selling drugs.