Kenyan police have seized 454 kilogrammes of suspected methamphetamine valued at about KSh3.6 billion in Kwale County and arrested three foreign nationals in a multi-agency operation against an alleged international drug trafficking network.

The National Police Service said on Sunday, 8 November 2026, that the drugs were recovered from two locations in Msambweni Sub-County, on Kenya's southern coast near the border with Tanzania. Two vehicles and a motorcycle believed to be linked to the operation were also seized, including a white Ford station wagon, a white Ford pick-up and a red TVS motorcycle.

The operation followed the arrest of a 45-year-old Tanzanian national, Basleman Saleh Khamis, by Tanzanian authorities on 5 November over alleged trafficking of 259 kilogrammes of suspected methamphetamine and cocaine. He was handed over to Kenyan officers at the Lunga Lunga-Horohoro border crossing.

Questioning of the suspect led officers to Shirazi Village in Kingwede Shirazi Location, where they traced the home of a second accomplice, a 37-year-old Ugandan woman, Nakabugo Zuraicah, believed to own the drugs intercepted in Tanzania. Further leads took the team to a house in Ganja La Simba village, Kinondo Location, about 10 kilometres north-east of Msambweni Police Station, where the 454-kilogramme consignment was found.

A third suspect, 54-year-old Tanzanian national Hamad Seif Said, was arrested at the premises. The scene was documented by crime scene investigators from Kwale before the suspects and exhibits were transferred to the National Anti-Narcotics Bureau (NANIB) Coast regional headquarters in Mombasa for further investigations.

The three are in police custody while the recovered drugs and vehicles are held as exhibits, and the investigation is being handled by the NANIB Coast Region. Detectives are seeking to establish the source of the drugs, their intended destination and the extent of the suspected trafficking network operating across the Kenya-Tanzania border.

Police said the operation was carried out under directives from Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja to take decisive action against narcotic drugs, illicit alcohol and other harmful substances through a multi-agency approach. The police service said Kenya would not be allowed to become a destination or transit route for illegal drugs, and praised the cooperation of Tanzanian authorities, saying cross-border collaboration remained critical in dismantling transnational organised crime networks.

Capital FM described the seizure as among the major drug interceptions reported in the Coast region, highlighting concerns over cross-border narcotics trafficking and the movement of illicit substances through the region. The seizure comes about two months after security agencies destroyed 1,024 kilogrammes of methamphetamine estimated to be worth KSh8.2 billion at the Bamburi Cement Factory in Mombasa County on 24 September 2026. The operation is still ongoing, with authorities promising further updates as investigations progress.