Kenya: Record Cocaine haul seized, smuggler arrested
Seized cocaine in plastic bags. Picture courtesy/the east african
By Hudson Gumbihi | Nairobi, Kenya
A UGANDAN woman has been arrested in Nairobi in connection with Cocaine valued at Shs 85.6 million, the largets bust in the recent years.
Ann Birugi Bisaso was posing both as a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative and official of the Uganda foreign ministry when she was seized at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Saturday night.
She begun her journey in Peru to Brazil via South Africa before landing in Kenya where hawk-eyed anti-narcotic officers unmasked her trafficking in the 21.4 kilogramme pure Cocaine packed in two black boxes embalmed with UNDP logos to deter detection.
Nairobi police tipped
Bisaso, 40 had arrived from South Africa aboard South African Airways when detectives at the airport stopped her. A source said a rival drug cartel tipped police in Nairobi. The woman was to travel by road to Uganda, however, she will be taken to court instead.
Upon interrogation Bisaso failed to authenticate whether she was either a UNDP and ministry official. Officers broke the boxes when the suspect claimed she had no keys. Her passport showed she has been a regular traveler to South American where tracking in drugs especially Cocaine, is rampant.
Haul belongs to Nigerian man
It later emerged that the haul, belonged to a Nigerian man believed to be married to a Kenyan. Two weeks ago, police at JKIA seized 50 kilogrammes of Hashish and bhang disguised as cargo.
The 5 kilogrammes of Hashish and 45 kilogrammes of bhang (cannabis sativa) were labeled as maize seeds. Two men were later arrested. There is tight surveillance at JKIA where traffickers are frequently seized despite employing all tricks in the illegal trade.
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It now seems as though the training that 40 officers underwent while being trained in Canada, USA, UK, Australia, Russia, Malaysia, and Brazil, is paying dividends.
Let’s hope that the kingpin “married to a Kenyan women” will not be let off the hook by bribing his way out of the country. Iterpol should release it’s long distance hounds (undercover agents) to sniff out all of his Kenyan, African, Asian, European, and North American connections.
Congratulations to the Kenya Airport Police and vigilant young officers who have developed hawkish eyes for the usual suspects, air fox travelers, frequent mileage grasshoppers, mules and the ordinary next door neighbour with a deadly double life .