NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 11 – An elderly German woman was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Tuesday night while allegedly trafficking in cocaine worth Sh7 million.
Police said the 62-year-old woman was in the country on holiday at the Kenyan coast.
“She has been staying in Mombasa where she was on holiday and was arrested as she returned to her country,” anti-narcotics chief Judith Auma said.
Ms Auma said the drugs were detected at the screening unit as the foreigner prepared to check in for her flight.
“Our officers inspected her luggage and found 1.7 kilograms of cocaine,” she said. “The passport she was using shows that she has been visiting Kenya regularly as a tourist,” Auma said and added that detectives were still questioning her.
“We want to establish the source of these narcotic drugs because clearly, she is not operating alone,” she added.
The suspect was scheduled to appear in court late Wednesday or early Thursday.
“It will all depend on our investigations, but expect her in court today (Wednesday) or tomorrow (Thursday) morning,” she added.
Lately, authorities have raised major concerns over what they termed ‘increased drug trafficking cases’ at the airport.
It appears cocaine is the most prevalent drug according to the latest statistics from Anti-Narcotics Unit at the Criminal Investigations Department headquarters.
Only last month, a Kenya Airways crew member was arrested in London with seven kilograms of cocaine valued at Sh38 million. The suspect is facing charges in a UK court.
In another incident, a top diplomat seconded to Kenya was arrested in Greece last December with 25 grams of cocaine.
The diplomat had left Nairobi for Athens when anti-narcotics police detained him.
It is not yet known whether the drugs originated from in Kenya but detectives say the plane he boarded left JIKA for Athens via Cairo.
The envoy was charged in Athens with over drug trafficking and granted bail of €10,000.
