Sh8.2 billion drug bust: Who owns the haul?
National
By
Patrick Beja and Willis Oketch
| Oct 26, 2025
A drug haul worth Sh8.2 billion has been seized in the Indian Ocean and six Iranians arrested by security agencies.
The 1,024 kilogrammes of methamphetamine, a synthetic drug, was seized 630 kilometres East of Mombasa.
The vessel which was sailing to unknown country within the Indian Ocean region was intercepted by the Kenya Navy and Kenya Coast Guard Service before being forced to sail to Mombasa port.
The six men, who are expected to appear in court on Monday to answer charges of drug trafficking, were handed over to the police by the Kenya Navy at the port.
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Briefing the media yesterday, Kenya Navy deputy commander Brigadier Kantale Kiswa and Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Mohamed Amin confirmed that the suspects were already in custody and will be arraigned on Monday.
They said the stateless vessel christened Mv Igol was intercepted by the Kenya Navy on October 23, this year, while carrying the drug consignment.
“On October 23, 2025, Kenya Navy successfully intercepted a dark vessel christened MV Igol carrying six Iranian nationals on board. The vessel was found to be carrying a large consignment of synthetic drugs,” said Amin.
Amin said the drugs were in 769 packages of crystalline substance weighing about 10,24.253 kilogrammes.
The street value of the consignment is estimated to be Sh8.2 billion equivalents to US$63 million. Brigadier Kiswa said the vessel was on the international radar and was being tracked by security agencies before they impounded it.
“We have succeeded due to cooperation from regional partners who have been working closely with us. The vessel was on the radar of the international community,” he explained.
He said the success was due to cooperation with regional partners and the international community.
The multi-agency team included Kenya Navy, Nacada, DCI, Anti-Narcotic and Kenya Coast Guard Service.
Amin said the operation demonstrated the commitment of the law enforcement agencies to combat drug trafficking to ensure national security.
He commended Kenya Navy, DCI, Anti-Narcotics Unit and other agencies and assured Kenyans that the agencies are on high alert to keep the country safe.
During the inspection of the drugs, some foreigners believed to have been working behind the scene were seen taking photographs and weighing the small packages in sacks.
The seizure comes days after the country’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport came under the spotlight for drug trafficking. Some unscrupulous officials at the airport were working in cahoots with drug traffickers and were exposed by CCTV footages.
In the investigations, a man linked to a Cabinet minister was questioned by detectives over the major drug trafficking syndicate at the airport.
Another suspect, an airport ground-handling employee contracted by British Airways, was also questioned and released. Both are said to have assisted a foreign national, Da Mata Dos Santos, who allegedly flew out of Nairobi carrying cocaine worth millions of shillings on flight BA064 to London.
Dos Santos, a British passport holder of Brazilian origin, has since been charged in the UK and is awaiting trial in December 2025.