Two Kenya Airways (KQ) staff were Thursday, November 2,
arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) with 40kg of
narcotics believed to be heroin.
Alfric Otieno and Lennox Chestit, both KQ cabin attendants,
were arrested during a sting operation by detectives as they prepared
to ferry the narcotics to Lagos, Nigeria, aboard Kenya Airways flight
KQ542.
Intelligence revealed that the drugs had been put on board by Kenneth Sinzore, a KQ luggage handler who was also arrested.
Head of Anti-Narcotic Police Unit Hamisi Masa said the two men were arrested early Thursday morning, about 15 minutes to their flight.
“They are being held as verification of the substance goes on,” said Mr Masa.
In a parallel operation, the detectives found a residential
house used by a drug trafficking cartel as a store for narcotics. The
house, located in Savannah Phase IV estate, is the residence of Austin
Obinwanne Igwilo, a Nigerian who police say is at the centre of the drug
ring.
The detectives recovered more drugs wrapped in a similar
manner as the consignment found at the airport. The Nigerian came to
Kenya in November 2016.
After his arrest, Mr Igwilo implicated Chadwick Dondi
Okoth, a former Kenya Airways worker who in March this year was
suspended after being found in possession of $17,000 (Sh1.8 million)
while returning to Kenya on official duty. Police said they suspected
that he could have been involved in narcotics trafficking all along.
Despite his suspension, Mr Okoth maintained contact with
former colleagues at the airport and managed to recruit in-flight
attendants to act as drug mules. According to police, the crew has on
several occasions successfully transported drugs to various destinations
(unknown to the management of the national carrier). Police who
searched Okoth’s home in Fedha estate recovered more narcotics packed
and ready for shipment to various destinations.
A similar operation against members of the same syndicate
carried out at JKIA on October 13 led to the arrest of two other flight
attendants and the seizure of 4kg of heroin.
According to the police, the other members of the syndicate
assumed that attention had shifted from the airport following the
earlier operation.
However, Masa told the press that vigilance at Kenya’s
largest airport is at its highest and no criminal activity would go
unnoticed.
Police have intensified surveillance at the airport after
it emerged that drug trafficking was committed in collusion with airline
staff.
Photo credit: Moses Omusula(Standard Media Kenya)
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