Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen today Thursday called for tougher action against drug trafficking as authorities destroyed more than one tonne of methamphetamine valued at Sh8.2 billion in Mombasa.
The drugs, weighing 1,036.044 kilogrammes, were destroyed at Bamburi Cement after being seized in the Indian Ocean in October 2025. The exercise followed court proceedings involving six Iranian nationals accused of trafficking the consignment.
Speaking shortly before the destruction, Murkomen said the fight against narcotics could not be left to security agencies alone. He urged residents to report people involved in the drug trade and called for closer cooperation between government agencies and the public.
“Help us protect our children,” he told Kenyans.
Government targets traffickers and drug profits
Murkomen said Kenya remained both a destination and transit point for narcotics, making stronger enforcement necessary.
“We must match enforcement with prevention, treatment and rehabilitation,” he said.
He also warned that the Government would pursue assets believed to have been acquired through drug trafficking.
“If we find you storing drugs or illicit [substances], we will not only destroy the product but we will also take over the land and the factory that you used to process” them, he said.
The CS said government officials found working with drug traffickers would face dismissal and prosecution.
The destruction came as the case against the six accused entered its defence stage. A Shanzu court recently ruled that the suspects had a case to answer after prosecutors called 12 witnesses.
Mombasa remains at centre of drug-use concerns
The Government’s crackdown comes as new data show the scale of substance use in Kenya.
A 2026 NACADA survey found that about 4.7 million Kenyans aged 15 to 65 use at least one drug or substance of abus, roughly one in six people in that age group. Mombasa recorded the country’s highest prevalence at 34.4 per cent, while the wider Coast region recorded 29.3 per cent.
Murkomen said the Government was working to expand rehabilitation services, with plans for 164 facilities across the country. He said 11 counties had already indicated they were willing to establish facilities.
“We will hunt down traffickers, but we will not abandon victims of the drugs,” he said.
The approach reflects a wider challenge facing authorities: disrupting the supply of narcotics while ensuring that people struggling with addiction can access treatment and rehabilitation.
More arrests and seizures reported
The Interior Ministry says 3,331 people were arrested over drug and illicit-brew offences during the past year.
Authorities also seized 675,535 litres of alcohol during the same period, according to figures cited by Mr Murkomen.
The destruction of the methamphetamine was carried out under heavy security, with senior police and security officials present at the Bamburi facility. The consignment had been intercepted during a multi-agency operation at sea and later became the subject of proceedings at Shanzu Law Courts.
For Mr Murkomen, the destruction was about more than removing a large quantity of drugs from circulation. He said the Government also wanted to disrupt the money behind the trade.
“I really hope the person who was transporting this haul is watching us today,” he said.
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