Tanzanian police seize 454kg of methamphetamine worth $27m in major drug bust from Kenya

Kenyan authorities have arrested four people and confiscated 454kg of methamphetamine valued at approximately $27m in an operation targeting an international drug trafficking network.

The seizure, described as one of the largest in Kenya's history, followed an intelligence-led operation involving anti-narcotics officers from Kenya and Tanzania along the Kenyan coast.

Police said investigations began after a suspected key member of the trafficking network was arrested in Tanzania last week and subsequently handed over to Kenyan authorities at the border.

The suspect, who was allegedly connected to an earlier seizure of 299kg of suspected methamphetamine and heroin in Tanzania, reportedly provided information that led officers to a property in Msambweni, where the latest consignment was uncovered.

Further arrests were made at the location, with officers also impounding two vehicles and a motorcycle.

Aretas Lyimo, head of Tanzania's Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA), said preliminary interrogations suggested that the drugs intercepted in Tanzania had entered the country through Kenya's Port of Mombasa.

He added that investigations had identified some of the suspects as influential members of an international drug trafficking network with operations spanning several countries.

The countries identified include Afghanistan, South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Mr Lyimo disclosed that a total of seven suspects, comprising five Tanzanians and two Ugandans, had been arrested in the operations conducted at the two locations.

In Kenya, four suspects remain in police custody and are expected to be arraigned in court. The seized drugs and other items have been retained as evidence.

Authorities say investigations are continuing and have appealed to the public to provide information that could assist efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks.

The latest seizure comes amid growing concern over the spread of illicit drugs in Kenya. Last month, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki identified drug abuse and illicit alcohol as major threats to the country, warning that the government would introduce tougher legislation and intensify nationwide enforcement operations.

In another operation last month, Kenyan authorities destroyed more than a tonne of methamphetamine intercepted by the navy in a consignment seized last year about 630km off the coast of Mombasa.

The growing scale of drug trafficking in the region has also drawn concern from the Institute for Security Studies, which has warned that East Africa's role in the international narcotics trade is changing.

The think-tank says the region's coastline is increasingly being used not only as a transit corridor for drugs destined for other markets but also as an entry point for manufactured narcotics intended for local consumption.