Kenyan police have seized 454 kilogrammes of suspected methamphetamine worth an estimated Sh3.6 billion in Kwale County, arresting three foreign nationals in a multi-agency operation targeting an alleged international drug trafficking network.

The National Police Service announced the seizure on Sunday, 8 November, saying the drugs were recovered in Msambweni Sub-County on Kenya's southern coast, close to the border with Tanzania. The operation was led by the National Anti-Narcotics Bureau (NANB) Coast Region and involved Kenyan and Tanzanian security agencies.

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

Trail led to two villages in Msambweni

Investigators following leads from the handover traced a suspected accomplice to Shirazi village in Msambweni, where they identified a 37-year-old Ugandan woman, Nakabugo Zuraicah, believed to own the drugs intercepted in Tanzania. The trail then led officers to a house in Ganja la Simba village, in Kinondo Location, about 10 kilometres north-east of Msambweni Police Station.

A search of the house uncovered a further consignment weighing 454 kilogrammes. A third suspect, 54-year-old Tanzanian national Hamad Seif Said, was arrested at the premises. Police also seized two vehicles and a motorcycle during the operation, including a white Ford station wagon, a white Ford pick-up and a red TVS motorcycle.

Crime scene investigators from Kwale documented the scene before the suspects and the exhibits were transferred to the NANB Coast regional headquarters in Mombasa for further investigation. Police said the recovered drugs had an estimated street value of Sh3.6 billion, though laboratory testing will be needed to confirm the substance, which officers have so far described only as suspected methamphetamine.

Investigation continues into cross-border network

Investigations are continuing 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 for officers to take decisive action against narcotic drugs through a multi-agency approach.

The seizure is among the largest drug interceptions reported on Kenya's coast this year and underlines concerns about the movement of illicit substances through the region. Kenyan media reported that it comes about two months after security agencies destroyed 1,024 kilogrammes of methamphetamine, estimated to be worth Sh8.2 billion, at the Bamburi Cement Factory in Mombasa on 24 September.