Wanted woman arrested at JKIA with cocaine worth Ksh13.5M

A Kenyan woman, Jane Waithera Wateri, has been arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) with cocaine worth approximately Ksh13.5 million, according to KBC. Wateri, who has been on the law-enforcement watch list since last year, was intercepted by detectives from the Kenya Airports Criminal Investigations (KACI) who were following a stop order issued by detectives from the National Anti-Narcotics Investigations Bureau (NANIB) over alleged trafficking in narcotic drugs.

The suspect was preparing to board a flight to Bangladesh when she was stopped, and a search of her belongings led to the discovery of three small bags containing suspected narcotic drugs. A preliminary test confirmed the presence of cocaine, with the total weight of the drugs being approximately 3383 grams and an estimated street value of Ksh13,530,720.

Wateri is currently being held at JKIA Police Station, while detectives from NANIB and the Financial Investigations Unit (FIU) continue to investigate the suspected narcotics trafficking network. KACI Director B Kanyai emphasized the agency's commitment to preventing narcotics trafficking through Kenyan airports and warned that those attempting to use the country’s airports as a gateway for illicit narcotics will face severe consequences.

Brief written by urgent.news from KBC's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.