Customs officials have intercepted a consignment of suspected narcotic substances with an estimated street value 0f Ksh 25.45 million at the Eldoret International Airport.
According to Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) customs officials, the drug consignment which was shipped from Dubai, United Arab Emirates as declared as cosmetics destined for Mombasa.
However, upon X-ray scanning and physical inspection, the consignment which comprised 141 items packed in different forms, including soap-like blocks, gel-filled containers and powders were found to contain a mixture of items concealed among what had been declared as consumer products.
“The shipment was declared as one piece weighing approximately 27.2 kilogrammes, originating from Dubai and destined for Mombasa. Further examination identified gaps in the accompanying documentation, including limited verifiable information on the shipper and consignee, making it difficult to establish the parties behind the shipment,” said KRA.
The authority says tests conducted on two batches by Government Chemist Laboratory in Kisumu came out positive for controlled substances.
“Thirteen blue, soap-like blocks weighing 1,381.01 grammes tested positive for methamphetamine and were assigned an estimated street value of Ksh 11.05 million. A further 14 maroon gel containers weighing 4,802.86 grammes tested positive for amphetamine, with an estimated street value of Ksh 14.41 million,” said the authority.
However, lab tests revealed that 24 containers of white powder, 24 containers of blue powder, 28 grey flaky fragments, 24 light-green powder-filled envelopes, 14 brown gel containers and other assorted packages did not contain narcotic or psychotropic substances.
The consignment has since been handed over to the Anti-Narcotics Unit of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) at Eldoret International Airport for further investigation and enforcement action.
This is the second time in a space of one week illicit trade and tax evasion schemes have been foiled at the airport which also serves as a key logistics facility.
Over the weekend, customs officials intercepted 53,607 high-end smartphones which had been under-declared with intent to evade taxes amounting to Ksh 21.5 million.
