Kenyan police seize boat with heroin, nab 9 suspects

Kenyan police said Monday they have impounded a boat in the Indian Ocean and recovered heroin valued at over 60,000 U.S. dollars.

Mombasa County Police Commander Robert Kitur said nine suspects were also arrested, including five crew members, and the vessel will be held at the Port of Mombasa for further inspection.

"A vehicle which was to be used to smuggle the drugs in the country has also been detained in Kilifi," Kitur told journalists in Mombasa.

Mombasa has been cited in many security reports as a transit point for drugs headed to Asia and Europe. Some of the drug lords have turned the coast region into a drug haven, with thousands of young people addicted to heroin and cocaine.

Anti-narcotics police officers say most of the drug traffickers had also been avoiding airports for roads, which are poorly manned to traffic the drugs.

Most of the narcotics that are seized are cocaine and heroin. Statistics show police at the airport seized drugs valued more than 16.4 million dollars last year alone, with most of those arrested being passengers who were on transit.

According to latest police statistics, some 1,359 cases of drug trafficking were detected in Kenya in 2014 and 1,513 suspects arrested.