UN roped in on cocaine stash
2006-01-30 22:19
Nairobi - Kenya on Monday asked a United Nations narcotics panel to oversee the destruction of 1.3 tons of cocaine seized in late 2004, a record haul that had become the subject of corruption and evidence tampering allegations.
Government spokesperson Alfred Mutua said the invitation was issued to the UN body so as to quell controversy surrounding the status of the seizure, worth $83.3m, in which eight people, including two Italians, were now on trial.
All had pleaded not guilty to trafficking charges.
He said: "The government has invited the UN commission on narcotic drugs to inspect, verify and oversee the destruction of the ... cocaine haul that was confiscated by the Kenyan police.
"It is important that the destruction is in accordance with the law and court procedures."
National security
As well as fuelling fears that Kenya had become a major hub for the international narcotics trade, the seizure had also been dogged by controversy since the beginning.
First, it took a court order for the police to break their silence about where the cocaine was being held.
Last year, a parliamentary committee on national security claimed that some of the evidence had been removed and replaced with a white powder that was not cocaine.
The chairperson of the committee alleged a massive cover-up was under way to protect corrupt government officials, but never produced any evidence.
The cocaine was seized in two raids on December 14 2004.
Police said that in the first raid in Nairobi, the drugs were found disguised as bitumen blast, a roofing material, packed in two shipping containers ready for transportation to the port of Mombasa and eventual export.
They said the second raid took place in the coastal town of Malindi.