KENYA NAMED AS MAIN ROUTE FOR NARCOTIC TRAFFICKERS

Kenya is increasingly becoming a transit point for international drug
traffickers.

The country, a new report on narcotics says, is being used to send
drugs to South America and Europe.

The International Narcotics Control Board says in its 2005 report
that, the East African region had become the fallback for drug dealers
following increased controls on the traditional routes of the
Netherlands and Spain.

The annual report was released yesterday in Nairobi. The warning
followed the discovery of cocaine worth Sh6.4 billion in Malindi and
Nairobi in 2004.

The board was established to monitor the implementation of
international drug control treaties.

NGO Representatives

The launch was organised by the Gigiri-based United Nations office on
drugs and crime and attended by representatives of non-governmental
organisations, diplomats and State officials.

The board representative, Mr Carsten Hyttel, told the guests that
trafficking of drugs through mail had increased across the world,
adding that illegally operated Internet pharmacies were being used as
suppliers and dealers.

He said that although trafficking of heroin across the East African
ports remained relatively low, the quality passing through Kenya had
in the recent years increased from low-brown heroin to white heroin.

The National Campaign Against Drug Abuse coordinator, Mr Joseph
Kaguthi, said his organisation was concerned about the quality of
investigations and prosecution of trafficking cases.

But he praised Kenya's security agencies saying, they only needed
public support in their fight against drug trafficking.

He said his organisation was consulting with the Judiciary on how to
implement laws requiring that all property recovered from those
convicted of drug trafficking be forfeited to the Government.

Mr Kaguthi said that, they were also pushing for the establishment of
a national drug control authority as an agency for implementing all
trafficking laws.