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How Police arrested suspect with Sh1.8M cocaine inside Nairobi-bound bus

24-year-old Charles Obaga Kavehere who was arrested with 417 grammes of cocaine on Friday, April 26, 2024 at Blue Post section in Thika, Kiambu County. (PhotoDCI)

By Waweru Wairimu | 26 Apr 2024

Detectives established that the 24-year-old suspect had swallowed more drugs which he intended to egest at his destination.

Anti-narcotics detectives and officers from the Operations Support Unit arrested a 24-year-old man with 417 grammes of cocaine on Friday, April 26, 2024.

Police from the two sections within the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) acted on intelligence information and tracked down the suspect, Charles Obaga Kavehere, in a bus heading to Nairobi from Moyale.

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The bus was flagged at the Blue Post section in Thika, Kiambu County, and a search operation was conducted immediately.

“417 grammes of cocaine estimated at Sh1.8 million were discovered hidden under the inner soles of his rubber shoes,” DCI stated in a post on its X platform.

Detectives ferried the accused drug trafficker to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for further screening after suspecting him of hiding more sachets.

At JKIA, it was established that the 24-year-old suspect had swallowed more drugs which he intended to egest at his destination.

“Kavehere is currently in the custody of JKIA-ANU officers pending the egestion of the swallowed sachets and further legal procedures,” DCI updated.

Security teams along the Nairobi-Isiolo-Moyale road have stepped up efforts to contain drug trafficking through intelligence-led operations.

Motorists plying the Archers Post-Merille-Laisamis stretch are subjected to searches by the security team, which also involve using sniffer dogs.

The traffickers, accused of sourcing narcotics from neighbouring countries, take advantage of the porous borders to sneak the drugs into the country.

Reports also allege that the traffickers collude with locals and rogue law enforcers to evade arrests along the Isiolo-Moyale highway, which is under surveillance by a multi-agency security team.

From stashing narcotics in sealed compartments in the vehicles to tasking bodaboda riders to ferry the drugs off the highways and using police vehicles to ferry consignments, the traffickers are hellbent on using all means possible to break the law.

Several rogue police officers have in the past been arrested and charged with trafficking drugs worth millions of shillings. The majority of the cases are pending in court.