NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 14 – The Directorate of Criminal Investigations’ (DCI) Anti-Narcotics Unit detectives on Wednesday seized narcotics concealed in two shipments at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
The DCI Thursday said the recovery was made by the ant-narcotics officers during an operation conducted at the airport following a tip off.
The agency said that one of the shipments, 168 pairs of earrings, which was destined for Australia had been declared as African traditional earrings while the second consignment had been concealed as 12 kitenge dresses and was en route to Hong Kong, China.
After thorough inspection of the earrings, the detectives discovered a yellow powdery substance concealed within the ornaments.
“The typical eye would easily pass the 168 pairs of earrings as just that, but the deft police officers sensed there was more than met the eye. After deeper scrutiny, they discovered a yellow powdery substance cleverly concealed within the ornaments,” the DCI said.
Agents said that the powdery substance was positively identified as morphine following tests.
The anti-narcotics detectives further discovered an additional 199 buttons upon further inspection of the second consignment which turned out to contain white powdery substances that was established to be cocaine.
“Upon deeper inspection, they were awed to find a white powdered substance shrewdly hidden within the buttons. The powder was subjected to presumptive tests, which revealed it was yet another illegal narcotic substance, cocaine,” the DCI said.
The agency said that seized shipment was taken for further examination.
Kenya is a significant transit route for hard drugs destined for international markets with the international airports in Nairobi and Mombasa being among the major transit points.
