An American national is under police watch at a Nairobi hospital after experiencing severe abdominal complications from ingesting cocaine pellets in a failed drug trafficking attempt. The suspect, who was en route from Alabama to Saudi Arabia, was admitted to the hospital on Sunday, February 16, after his friend rushed him in for emergency medical attention.
Doctors at the hospital, suspecting drug ingestion, alerted anti-narcotics detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters. Upon performing an endoscopy, medical personnel recovered three cocaine pellets from the suspect’s rectum. The pellets tested positive for cocaine and weighed 57.98 grams, with an estimated street value of Ksh1 million.
Authorities have since confiscated the exhibit and documented the case. However, doctors also detected an additional pellet lodged in the suspect’s small intestines, which required careful removal. The suspect, who had been staying at a short-term rental in Nairobi’s Westlands area, was scheduled to depart from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Saudi Arabia via Addis Ababa at 6:00 pm on the same day he was hospitalized.
His travel and personal documents have been seized pending his recovery, after which he will face prosecution for drug trafficking charges. Under Kenyan law, if found guilty, he could face up to 12 years in prison.
DCI boss Mohamed Amin stated that investigations are ongoing to determine whether the suspect was working with local agents in Kenya or acting independently. Police have visited the apartment where he was staying to establish whether the drugs were ingested there. Authorities are also probing whether the narcotics were intended for personal use or sale.
In a separate incident on Tuesday afternoon, anti-narcotics officers at JKIA intercepted a shipment of suspected amphetamines en route from Bujumbura, Burundi, to Australia. The drugs were concealed in ten large candles packed inside a carton. During a verification process, officers discovered a whitish crystalline substance wrapped in yellow cello tape, which later tested positive for the highly addictive stimulant.
The consignment was seized, and investigations are ongoing to identify the traffickers. Kenyan authorities have requested assistance from their Burundian counterparts to track down those responsible.
Despite a decline in drug trafficking due to heightened security measures, authorities note that traffickers are now resorting to more discreet smuggling methods. Most avoid airports due to increased scrutiny, but law enforcement continues to enhance counter-narcotics efforts to curb illicit drug trade.
