Kenya seizes 454kg of meth in drug crackdown
The gist
Kenyan police seized 454kg of suspected methamphetamine worth about Sh3.6 billion ($27m) in Kwale County.
The bust followed a Tanzania arrest, and East Africa's coast is increasingly a destination market.
How it unfolded
- Oct 2025The Kenyan Navy intercepted drugs aboard the stateless vessel MV Mashallaah about 630km off Mombasa, leading to prosecution of six Iranian nationals.
- Sep 24, 2026Police destroyed 1,024 kilograms of methamphetamine worth about Ksh8.2 billion at the Bamburi Cement Factory in Mombasa County.
- Nov 5, 2026A 45-year-old Tanzanian national, Basleman Saleh Khamis, was arrested in Tanzania over alleged trafficking of 259kg of suspected methamphetamine and cocaine and handed to Kenyan police at the Lungalunga-Horohoro border.
Key terms
- methamphetamine
- A potent central nervous system stimulant used mainly as a recreational drug and rarely as a medical treatment.
- arraignment
- Formally read criminal charges in court and asked to enter a plea.
- transit route
- The illegal cultivation, manufacture, distribution, and sale of the prohibited drug fentanyl on the black market.
Source: Wikipedia