Kenyan Police News

A Norwegian-flagged ship that was held in Kenya for more than a week over undeclared weapons belonging to the United Nations has been released, the owners of the vessel said. Kenyan authorities boarded the ship at the port of Mombasa on Sept. 17 and uncovered undeclared weapons in a U.N. shipment destined for peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The U.N. defended the shipment. "Höegh Transporter has finally been released from detention in Mombasa, Kenya, and has continued her ocean voyage," Hoegh Autoliners, the Norwegian owner of the ship, said in a statement issued on Saturday. The U.N. said the arms were inside armoured personnel carriers destined for its Indian peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kenyan security agents have found an unspecified amount of weapons and drugs on a Norwegian-flagged ship they intercepted last week, a senior police officer said. East Africa has become a key export route for Afghan heroin destined for Europe. Coastguards and navies from the region, short of funds and anti-trafficking expertise, have struggled to stem the flow of drugs through their waters. Kenyan authorities boarded the Hoegh Transporter, owned and operated by Norway's Hoegh Autoliners, last Thursday saying it was suspected of carrying drugs and firearms. "We cannot tell how many weapons have been recovered because the exercise is still ongoing and we don't want to jeopardise it by giving incomplete information…

Kenyan police raided a ship docked in the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa on Friday, on suspicion that it carried drugs and firearms, officials said. East Africa has become a key export route for Afghan heroin destined for Europe. Regional maritime forces, short of funds and anti-trafficking expertise, have struggled to stem the flow of drugs through their territorial waters. Kenyan soldiers and security personnel cordoned off the entire port for hours before seizing the ship, paralysing East Africa's biggest port, which serves as the main gateway for imports and exports in the region. "Based on intelligence gathered, the ship is suspected to be carrying fire arms and drugs…

Nine foreign nationals were charged in a Kenyan court on Thursday with trafficking the biggest ever single seizure of drugs at the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa. There has been a surge in the volume of heroin trafficked through east Africa in recent years, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime says, with east Africa's biggest port of Mombasa cited as a transit point for narcotics and other contraband. The suspects, who included six Pakistanis, two Indians and an Iranian, denied trafficking the heroin and were detained until November when their trial will begin. Prosecutors told the court on Thursday that the 377.2 kg drug haul had a market value of 1.1 billion shillings ($12.54 million). Police also found 33,200 litres of liquid heroin whose value is yet to be established.

Kenyan police said on Friday they shot and killed two armed men suspected of planning an attack on a ferry in the port city of Mombasa after one of them tried to hurl a grenade at approaching police. Mombasa and the coastal region has been struck by a series of attacks that have killed dozens of people in recent months. The worst shootings have been on the north coast, but Mombasa has been hit by several bomb attacks. Somalia's al Shabaab Islamist group has claimed many attacks, but the government has blamed some of the north coast raids on local political networks, leaving many Kenyans confused about who is responsible and angry at security failures.

Kenyan police on Tuesday seized 341.7 kg of heroin hidden in the diesel tank of a ship, the biggest ever single seizure of drugs at the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa. Police said they did not know the departure point of MV Bushehr Amin Darya, a stateless vessel they detained at sea last week after receiving intelligence reports it may have been carrying drugs to Mombasa. Hamisi Masha, anti-narcotics police chief for Kenya's coast region, said nine suspects were arrested, including six Pakistanis, two Indians and an Iranian. One man died on the ship from illness soon after the ship docked in Mombasa, he added. "We recovered some 900 grams of heroin when we searched the ship last week and this gave us the indication there could be more…

Eight suspected pirates apprehended by crew members from Royal Navy frigate HMS Cumberland off Africa's east coast last week have been handed over to the custody of the Kenyan Police today, Tuesday 18 November 2008. The suspected pirates were caught on Tuesday 11 November 2008 when HMS Cumberland, deployed to the Gulf of Aden, saw a Yemeni fishing vessel, which had earlier taken part in an attack on a Danish Merchant Vessel. After various non-forcible methods failed to stop the fishing vessel…