Report labels Kenya a major transit hub for hard drugs

Kenya is a major transit destination for hard illicit drugs, including Southwest Asian heroin and South American cocaine, a report has said.

The report by the United States Department of State Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, says that Southwest Asian heroin is transported in multihundred-kilogram quantities by small vessels across the Indian Ocean to the Kenyan coastline.

“Once in Kenya, the heroin is distributed to retail markets and user populations throughout Africa, Europe and North America,” the report says.

“South American cocaine is brought into Kenya by commercial air couriers arriving on international flights to Nairobi for further distribution to other African locations and Europe.”

Southwest Asian countriesinclude Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Georgia and Iran while South American countries are Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia and Venezuela.

The report lists Kenya alongside more than 60 other nations, including Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Brazil, Russia, the UK, the US and China, as the favourite markets for the hard drugs.