NARCOTICS - A RAW NERVE THAT NO ONE DARES TOUCH

When investigating the multi-billion shilling narcotics business in
Coast Province, one is met with authorities' conspiracy of silence.

There is a lot of suspicion and fear as some people warn that the
probe is a dangerous affair.

Kenya is an important transit route for Southwest Asian hashish and
heroin dealers. Europe is the primary market and North America the
secondary destination.

Eastern Africa representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Mr
Carsten Hyttel, once remarked that South American traffickers had
moved into Kenya.

This was after the tightening of law enforcement in Spain, which was
once a main transit point for cocaine headed to Europe.

When The Sunday Standard was investigating the suspected routes and
methods used to smuggle hard drugs into the country, the Coast
Provincial Criminal Investigation Officer, Mr Bernard Mate, expressed
suspicion and mistrust.

We were questioned about what we had learnt from our
investigations.

We met hostility at the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA), which
registers private speedboats.

A senior KMA officer, who declined to give his name, threatened to
call the police after we inquired about speedboats and their link in
drugs trafficking.

But another officer said the authority did not know how many
speedboats were in the country.

"We are doing some baseline survey and after compiling the data, we
will post it on our website," the officer said.

Such records could help in tracing the owners of boats involved in
illicit trade.

Private speedboats, some of them luxurious, dot almost the entire
coastline -- from South Coast, the Mombasa Island, Mtwapa, Kilifi,
Malindi all the way to Lamu.

Private speedboats face trade competition from private
jetties.

It is suspected that the porous small seaports -- from Vanga on the
Kenya-Tanzania border in South Coast to Lamu in the North-- are used
to not only smuggle hard drugs but also some counterfeit goods and
guns.

Speedboats have been in this trade for a while.

Slain drug baron, Ibrahim Akasha, used a speedboat in the trade. The
Government later confiscated the vessel.

A speedboat was also used in the Sh6.4 billion-drug haul, part of
which was located at a Malindi villa in December 14, 2004.

Some of the suspected entry points are Bodo, Kinondo -- where a major
drug consignment was discovered in 1997 -- Shimoni and Majoreni.

The Mombasa Old Port on Mombasa Island, Mtwapa Creek, and areas
bordering some North Coast hotels, especially where access to the
beach is difficult for fishermen and police, are also entry points.

Others are in Kanamai area, Kikambala, Bofa, Tezo and Kilifi beach,
Watamu, Malindi, Ngomeni, Mambrui and along the beaches of some
islands in Lamu.

Entry points

The Sunday Standard visited some of the suspected entry points and
talked to the locals, especially fishermen.

At Ngomeni, villagers say there are some days when there is a flurry
of activity at night involving speedboats and some huge sea vessels.

When there is such activity, some lorries are always on standby while
the owners of the consignments arrive in big expensive cars to ensure
everything goes on smoothly.

When we visited one of the suspected notorious entry points of
smuggled goods and drugs at daytime, it was quiet and deserted. We
only found a few fishermen and some young boys who were swimming.

"Some big ships usually anchor in the high seas. Small boats are used
to reach them," a Ngomeni resident said.

But no one is sure what kind of activity goes on between the owners
of the big vessels in the high seas and the small speedboats.

Ordinary fishing boats are used in the smuggling business sometimes,
it is alleged.

At such sea points, it is suspected that speedboats are used to bring
in drugs for local use or those on transit. Crafty drug barons also
use roads to bring in narcotics.

According to a former drug dealer, who sought anonymity, the road
from Likoni Ferry to the Kenya-Tanzania border is frequently used to
transport drugs from Dar-es-Salaam to Mombasa.

"The drugs are mostly from Pakistan and are offloaded through
Dar-es-Salaam port or other routes," he says.

They mostly use matatus, although private top-of-the-range cars,
which are rarely stopped and checked on roadblocks, sometimes come in
handy.

When matatus are used, the former drug baron says, the dealers
collude with some police officers.

A spy is usually sent to find out the officers manning roadblocks,
just in case "unfriendly" officers happen to be on the scene. The
person sent ahead usually strikes deals with wayward officers and
ensures safe passage of the vehicle carrying the drugs.

The traffickers use mobile phones to get in touch with their contacts
at roadblocks or some police officers to ensure safe passage of the
drugs.

"The mobile phone has helped a lot in the drug trafficking business,"
he reveals.

The tricks

Drugs transported by road transport, especially hashish, are usually
in small quantity, another former drug trafficker says.

He adds: "The narcotics haul in high seas is usually in large
quantities."

He alleges that large quantities of hard drugs still find their way
into the country since there are few anti-narcotics police in Mombasa.

The Government, he claims, is incapable of patrolling the long
stretch of shore from Kwale to Lamu.

Also used to bring in the hard drugs, especially at border points,
are bicycles and tuktuks (Three-wheeled taxis).

There are many ways of carrying drugs when transported by
road.

They can be carried in spare tyres, thermos flasks, three-piece
suits, buibuis, shoes and even private parts or through ingestion.

"Women are increasingly being used as couriers of hard drugs. It is
not easy for them to be nabbed," the former drug dealer says.

Drugs from Mombasa find their way to Lamu via the Mokowe jetty, he
claims.

The drugs are placed in some boats, which head to Matondoni point of
Lamu Island instead of Lamu jetty.

The drugs are then loaded onto donkeys and moved into the island for
storage in a safe place. Such safe places are distribution points to
youths through special couriers (peddlers).

The Moi International Airport, in Mombasa, has also been used as an
entry point for drugs despite tight police checks.

According to the International Narcotics Board, some traffickers use
small planes.

In Malindi and Lamu, where many youths are hooked to heroin, the
former drug dealer cautions against accepting free black or sweet
coffee.

"After about three cups of the coffee on three consecutive days, a
person can easily get addicted and become one of the customers of
some merciless drug dealers," he warns.

Sources allege that some senior people in Government work with local
and international drugs cartels.

Drug trafficking is big business.

Those in it, it is alleged, drive around in expensive
cars.

Like Akasha, they always have some "honest" businesses that act as
fronts.

Envious lifestyle

The mansions they live in -- some right on the beachfronts -- are
stupendous fortresses and their lifestyle, a source of envy.

It is alleged that Akasha used to give some police officers monthly
"hand outs".

When Akasha's drugs were impounded, it is said that some senior
government officials had to make regular trips abroad to meet the
Colombian owner for negotiations.

Akasha, notorious drug dealer, confidently swaggered in the town of
Mombasa and his private speedboat was always openly and proudly displayed.

Had it not been for a deal gone sour between those involved in the
hashish haul netted in 1999, the drug consignment could never have
been discovered. The consignment had already found its way to
Akasha's Nyali house hideout.

Akasha was suspected to be close to some high-ranking Government
officials and he may never have gotten into trouble.

Some Coast residents want the Government to investigate some tycoons
who have mansions along beachfronts and who have built high walls to
block access to the beach.

Fierce dogs and harsh security guards man their properties.

This is despite the beaches being public utilities.

residents suspect that some foreigners from Italy, Switzerland and
other European countries could be using their mansions and private
villas to hide drugs and commit other illegal activities.