Police arrest 5 more linked to drugs in Mombasa and Kilifi

MONDAY FEBRUARY 13 2017

The heroin and cash that police seized on Sunday night in Mombasa and Kilifi counties. PHOTO | MOHAMED AHMED | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• The five, including a female Law student, were arrested on Sunday night in sting operations in Mombasa and Kilifi counties.
• The student is linked to the two Seychelles citizens who were deported on Saturday.
• Coast Regional Coordinator Nelson Marwa on Monday said the student was a girlfriend of one of the two Seychellois.

By MOHAMED AHMED and 

By WACHIRA MWANGI

Police have arrested five more suspected drug barons with 17 kilogrammes of heroin worth Sh170 million and Sh18 million in cash.

The five, including a female law student, were arrested on Sunday night in sting operations in Mombasa and Kilifi counties.

The student is linked to the two Seychelles citizens deported on Saturday.

Coast Regional Coordinator Nelson Marwa on Monday said the student was a girlfriend of one of the two Seychellois.

15 KILOS

"Two of the suspects were arrested with two kilogrammes of the heroin while the others were seized with 15 kilos of the drugs which was being hidden at a house in Bamburi for local distribution," Mr Marwa said at the Bamburi Police Station.

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He said four vehicles belonging to the suspects are also being detained for further investigations.

Meanwhile, two suspected drug barons deported from Kenya to Seychelles at the weekend had been on the Interpol wanted list for close to two years, and are alleged to have been involved in the trafficking of heroin worth close to Sh1 billion into their country in 2015. 

The two, 42-year-old Nedy Micock and 32-year-old Vivian Domingue, were arrested at an apartment in Mombasa’s Nyali area on Friday night, and were on Sunday morning taken back to their country aboard a Kenya Airways flight. 

FACE LAW

Their flight left Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi at 11.45am and after a three-hour journey they arrived at Seychelles International Airport on Mahe Island. 

Kenyan detectives handed them over to the head of the Seychelles Drugs Enforcement Agency.

Although the two suspects could afford an occasional smile once in a while during and after their journey, officers in Seychelles say they must face the law. 

“We had through Interpol issued a blue notice against the two suspects on May 27, 2015, concerning a 35 kilogramme heroin consignment valued at USD 9 million that was seized at the Seychelles International Airport earlier that March,” says Liam Quinn, the chief officer of the National Drugs Enforcement Agency in Seychelles. 

SOLID CASE

Mr Liam revealed that they had been looking for the suspects in a number of countries in Africa and the Middle East, including the United Arab Emirates. 

Eight people have so far been arrested and taken to court concerning the incident, and police in Seychelles now believe they have a solid case. 

The suspects will later this week be charged with importation or conspiracy to import drugs into the Seychelles. 

Security forces are optimistic that they will uproot the entire drugs syndicate operating in the region. 

NETWORK

“There is a link between (drug barons operating in) countries in the region, including countries where the drugs originate from. We believe that traffickers based here in Seychelles do have links with traffickers from other countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar,” said Mr Liam. 

He added that they would work to ensure that there is no safe haven for drug barons in the region.