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Briton, 2 Kenyans held over Sh300mn cocaine haul

The three are being interrogated by a special team of US anti-narcotics authorities and their Kenya counterparts in Nairobi/FILE

The three are being interrogated by a special team of US anti-narcotics authorities and their Kenya counterparts in Nairobi/FILE

MOMBASA, Kenya, Aug 1 – A Briton and two Kenyans have been arrested in connection with seizure of a cocaine haul valued at Sh300 million at the Port of Mombasa last Friday.

The three are being interrogated by a special team of US anti-narcotics authorities and their Kenya counterparts in Nairobi.

The three are linked to a drug smuggling cartel from Brazil where the shipment originated and were trailed by foreign and local anti narcotics authorities for months.

“They are held within Nairobi and are assisting officers in the investigations. They were arrested in a sting operation on Saturday,” said a senior anti-narcotics officer.

The cocaine was in a shipment of sugar destined for Uganda that was seized at the port.

According to port documents, 18 containers were loaded on the vessel, MSC Posetano, at Santos Port in Brazil on June 20.

Each container was loaded with 520 bags of sugar.

Sources indicates that the US team taking part in the ongoing probe were involved in the arrest of two sons of slain drug baron Ibrahim Akasha and three foreigners during a 2014 sting operation at their Nyali residence in Mombasa.

Baktash Akasha, Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla, Gulam Hussein, (Indian) and Vijaygiri Anandgiri Goswami (Indian) are facing extradition proceedings after the US applied for their arrest.

On Sunday, the team completed the verification process and moved to Nairobi with samples of the drugs for further analysis of the contents.

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Regional police boss Francis Wanjohi said the head of the anti-narcotics unit would brief the media later in the day once they were done with the investigation.

The Port of Mombasa has in the past been used as transit port for drugs headed to Asia and Europe.

Last year, President Uhuru Kenyatta witnessed the destruction of a ship loaded with heroin valued at Sh1.3 billion.

The vessel was blown up in the high seas as a sign of the government’s tough stance against drug trafficking.

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