26-Yr-Old Kenyan Car Dealer Arrested With Cocaine Worth Ksh532M
The arrest, according to Sri Lankan media reports, had occurred after the car dealer had arrived from Ethiopia through Qatar.
Marvin Chege 
A 26-year-old Kenyan car dealer was on Sunday, September 24 arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake, Sri Lanka in possession of cocaine worth Ksh532,157,188.
The arrest, according to Sri Lankan media reports, had occurred after the car dealer had arrived from Ethiopia through Qatar.
According to Customs Spokesperson Sivali Arukgoda, the suspect had travelled from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Doha, Qatar, before boarding a Qatar Airways flight (QR 654) to Sri Lanka.
The 26-year-old Kenyan was apprehended at the airport's arrival terminal by officials from the Sri Lanka Customs narcotics control unit, having tried to exit the country using the 'green channel,' a lane intended for passengers without restricted or excessive goods beyond the admissible duty-free allowance.
Cocaine worth Ksh533 million seized at Sri Lanka's Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake on September 24, 2023. /PHOTO
Suspicions were however raised, leading to a thorough search of his hand luggage.
It was here that they discovered 180 capsules of cocaine, weighing a total of 4 kilograms, cleverly concealed inside three metal cookie tins.
“He was arrested by customs officers while attempting to exit through the ‘Green Channel’ at the airport based on foreign intelligence received by the Sri Lanka Customs narcotics control unit,” reads a report by a Sri Lankan publication.
The 'green channel' is typically for passengers with no Customs formalities, but random checks can be conducted, including luggage scanning and physical examinations if necessary.
Despite this being his first visit to Sri Lanka, foreign intelligence had alerted the Customs Narcotics Control Division, culminating in his arrest.
Following the arrest and the drug seizure, authorities handed over the suspect to the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) at BIA.
The PNB will conduct further investigations into the case to determine the extent of the drug trafficking operation and identify any potential associates. The Sri Lankan authorities however did not reveal the name of the arrested car dealer.
The incident forms part of an increasing trend of Kenyans caught in drug trafficking, especially in Asian countries.
On Monday, July 17, police officers at Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Police Department in Vietnam arrested a Kenyan woman who was carrying 2.3 kilograms of cocaine in her suitcase across three airports, including Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, undetected.
The arrest, according to Vietnamese news reports, occurred after officers from the Ministry of Public Security, Ho Chi Minh City’s Police Department, border guards, and customs officials inspected the 35-year-old woman's luggage after she landed at Tan Son Nhat airport in the city.
The woman managed to travel from JKIA to Bole International in Ethiopia and took a connecting flight to Hamad International Airport in Qatar, all while managing to dodge water-tight security, especially at Hamad which is considered to have one of the world's toughest security policies.
However, her luck was cut short at Tan Son Nhat in HCMC where security officials discovered abnormalities in terms of the structure of her suitcase.
The officials who inspected the suitcase found that it was modified in such a manner that it had a second bottom, where she was believed to have stuffed the cocaine with the hope that officials wouldn't catch her red-handed.
Inside, they found two bags of cocaine with an approximate street value of Ksh349 million.
