A Thai woman was Thursday night arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for trafficking three kilograms of cocaine valued at about Sh18 million.
The cargo was found in her luggage but police are yet to establish the source of the narcotics.
The woman was headed for Singapore through Doha when Anti Narcotics Unit police intercepted her on June 22.
Netima Ngamsap was to board a Qatar airline when police found her suitcase carrying two packages containing whitish powder that was later confirmed to be cocaine.
[inline_related_posts title=”You Might Be Interested In” title_align=”left” style=”list” number=”4″ align=”none” ids=”” by=”categories” orderby=”rand” order=”DESC” hide_thumb=”no” thumb_right=”no” views=”no” date=”yes” grid_columns=”2″ post_type=”” tax=””]
Police said the substance had been concealed in the false bottom of the suitcase at the time of the seizure.
She was detained ahead of further interrogation and arraignment, said police.
This is the latest seizure of narcotics in the country in a renewed campaign against trafficking and consumption.
The seizure, according to police, indicates the drugs had arrived in Nairobi for repackaging before they were exported.
Kenya does not produce such narcotics and police are struggling to contain the importation.
It came days after seven suspects were arrested by police and cocaine valued at Sh96.3 million was recovered from them in Nairobi.
Also recovered was one 1.2 tons of ketamine valued at Sh25 million, police said on June 17.
The cargo disguised as avocado for export was headed for China.
In 2019, the then European Union Ambassador to Kenya Simon Mordue said the Kenyan port of Mombasa accounted for 30 percent of illegal heroin smuggled into the EU market.
Most of the heroin in the country originates from Afghanistan through the Indian Ocean while cocaine originates from South America.
Kenyan security agencies seized the second-biggest haul of cocaine weighing 100 kilos and valued at Sh598 million in 2016 in Mombasa, which was disguised as sugar.