Drug trafficking suspects will appear in court today

Three Tanzanians arrested in Kwale on Thursday with heroin of a street value of Sh30 million will appear in court today.

Coast regional coordinator Bernard Leparamarai said a porous border and poorly managed roadblocks played into the hands of the suspects before they were intercepted. Their bags had a false bottom, he said.

“We are telling police to be more serious and keen when searching luggage,” he said at police headquarters in Mombasa on Saturday.

Sniffer dogs will be used on the Tanzania-Kenya border to fight drug trafficking.

“We have a multi-agency team working on this. It is collaborating with Tanzanian authorities,” he said.

Conflicting immigration rules posed a challenge. Leparamarai said the drug would have been used by 200,000 people whose lives would have been ruined.

“Who has money to rehabilitate this large number of people? No county can afford the cost. The effects of the drug would have been devastating,” he said.

Leparamarai clarified the drug’s value was not Sh90 million as earlier reported. The heroin was destined for Mombasa.

“Most of these drugs originate from countries as far as Afghanistan. Drug lords are avoiding the conventional routes, and are using the sea,” he said.

Leparamarai said drug lords are roaming the East African region. Their homes will be raided, he said.

“If we know you deal in drugs that are destroying our people’s lives, we will come for you,” Leparamarai said.