By Grace Gilo
Apoko Damaris Adhiambo was arrested by the anti-narcotics officers at The Jomo Kenyatta International Airport while trying to smuggle cocaine to Madagascar.
According to DCI, Apoko was flagged down at terminal A1’s central screening area as she checked in to board Kenya Airways KQ 256 flight to Antananarivo, Madagascar and was found with 57 pellets of cocaine stuffed in her undergarments.
“A body scanner at the checkpoint revealed suspicious items concealed around her privates, triggering a quick search that saw 600g of the highly addictive drug discovered. A spot test conducted on the discovery was positive for the coca product.” Read the DCI report.
After interrogation by female anti-narcotics officers, Apoko revealed that she had been recruited by Harriet Asaba a Ugandan national residing in Nairobi. Detectives traced Asaba to Accra Road in Nairobi CBD through forensic technologies and arrested her.
Asaba was similarly interrogated and revealed the location of three more of her associates who were apprehended.
“In the painstaking pursuit to break the entire syndicate, the second suspect led officers to the Free Area Hotel building and into the VIP Beauty Shop, where a meticulous search was conducted and another 33 pellets of crack found. Therein, three more suspects namely Nangonzi Shirah a (Ugandan national), Esther Wanjiru, 24 and Sophia Kathambi aged 24 were also rounded up.” Wrote the DCI.
A presumptive test on the second recovery also tested positive for Cocaine, weighing approximately 396 grams.
Prosecution processes have since been instigated on the arrested suspects.
DCI noted that further investigations are ongoing jointly with the InterPol team to track down the recipients of the drugs at Antananarivo, Madagascar.