JKIA's cocaine trail: London police seek answers

Two top suspects who allegedly assisted a foreign national in smuggling drugs through security check-ins at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) have been questioned by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Kiambu Road and later released.

One suspect, known as Moha, who was captured on CCTV standing next to the alleged drug trafficker in the airport’s check-in area, was picked up from his Nyayo Estate, Embakasi residence on Monday morning by individuals identifying themselves as detectives.

Neighbours who witnessed the dramatic operation told The Standard, on condition of anonymity, that the early morning raid involved about twenty plainclothes officers who surrounded the premises before whisking him away.

Sources at the DCI headquarters intimated that Moha was questioned for hours by DCI Director Mohammed Amin and the head of Anti-Narcotics, Samuel Laboso, even as the Metropolitan Police Service wrote to Kenyan authorities on the status of the investigation.

“This was a summons and not an arrest. Top cops went to effect police summons; they needed to know what this man knows regarding the claims that have circulated in the media,” stated a source.

“If there is reason to connect him to what happened, the cops will initiate a proper criminal profiling where they will dig into his call logs, workplace connections, and background to determine who exactly he is and whether he’s a person of interest,” added the source.

Neighbours at his Nyayo Estate house said the Monday dawn summons caught everyone off guard.

“They came around 7 am when everyone was still in the house, including the children. They ransacked the house, though we’re not sure what they took,” said one neighbour.

“They searched his current house and a former one he once lived in within the estate. We were shocked and still not sure where they took him,” added another neighbour.

The other suspect, seen in a yellow reflector jacket guiding Dos Santos through security checks inside Terminal 1A, spent a night in custody at the Airport Police Station, where he was also interrogated before being released.

Investigators say he is an employee of a Kenya-based firm specialising in airport ground services and air cargo handling services, and contracted by British Airways. We contacted the local firm, but they did not respond to our enquiries.

The Standard also wrote to British Airways enquiring about the contractual arrangement and the status of investigations, but they had not responded by the time of going to press.

The arrest comes even as it emerges that the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) has written to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to furnish them with case files touching on narcotics smuggling at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, as the storm over Cocaine Highway deepens.

Sources indicate KAA Chairman Caleb Kositany has moved to seize control of the scandal that has cast a pale shadow on the country’s largest airport.

“He has received several files, at least nine that I know of, but it’s still unclear what the next course of action is,” said a source at the airport.

Some top DCI officials have, however, claimed they were unaware of the said request, and neither has Kositany confirmed the claims, as he did not answer our calls.

KAA had earlier written to The Standard saying they would fully cooperate with the relevant security and investigative agencies during the probe.

It remains, however, unclear what the authority intends to do with the sought files. Hours after the airing of the exposé, London’s Metropolitan Police Service wrote to Kenyan authorities seeking details on the status of ongoing investigations. Details of the communication have, however, not been shared and still unclear if Kenyan authorities have responded.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed to The Standard the arrest of Dos Santos, noting that he appeared before Isleworth Crown Court on June 16, where he was remanded in custody as he awaits trial on December 3, 2025.

Behind the scenes, insiders describe a KAA management unsettled by the recent revelations but seemingly hoping the scandal will fade away.

“We know a few people have been asked to record statements,” one source said. “But nothing significant has come out of it. The management is simply waiting for the storm to die down.”

Meanwhile, a senior anti-narcotics detective stationed at the airport has reportedly flown out of the country, a move linked to the recent revelations.

Last Friday, The Standard exposed how Da Mata Dos Santos, travelling on a British passport but believed to be of Brazilian origin, aboard flight BA064, walked into Kenya’s supposedly highly guarded international airport carrying a briefcase packed with Class A and B drugs that included cocaine worth millions of shillings.

With astonishing ease, he slipped through departures, carefully shepherded past security checks by airport officials, and within no time, he was airborne, bound for London aboard a British Airways flight to Heathrow.

The exposé has continued to spark outrage across the country, with Kenyans flooding social media, joining the dots with incriminating images of Moha. Moha is said to be a close associate of a Cabinet Secretary who allegedly has dodgy links. 

“I know Moha. He was schooled in Nairobi and used to be a matatu tout before he became wealthy. He has tried politics at least twice but has been unsuccessful. Some say he is highly trained in security, and he is feared a lot in the streets,” said a source who confided in The Standard.

“He acts like an aide to most of the family members of the dignitary,” added the source.

Kenyan security chiefs have yet to comment on the matter.

“The silence could mean two things: it’s either an acknowledgement or it could mean that they have embarked on their own internal investigations that perhaps they don’t want to bring to the attention of the media. But the bottom line is that this was damaging,” explains George Musamali, a security affairs analyst.

In an exclusive interview with The Standard on Sunday night, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua tore into the current administration, challenging President William Ruto to sack high-profile figures implicated in the scandal.

“Drugs are being smuggled at JKIA. You’ve seen the photographs,” observed Gachagua.

“President Ruto had put me in charge of fighting drugs and alcoholism. When he was appointing the Cabinet ministers, I asked him, Where does that leave me? How do I continue this job when I will be sitting in Cabinet with the same drug barons?” 

“If William Ruto has any decorum remaining, he must sack that minister. The evidence is there.”
“And you can see clearly that it’s actually the minister who is facilitating the smuggling,” claimed Gachagua.

The Standard has learnt that a senior female detective attached to the Cabinet Minister currently enjoys full access to all areas at the airport against existing airport security regulations.

“She is untouchable. We see her around with a badge that can open any door at the airport. She is not attached to the airport, and everyone wonders why she has such super credentials. It's curious,” stated a source at the airport.
Our concerted efforts to get a comment from authorities at KAA on this claim hit a snag.

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, one of the busiest on the continent, is classified as a Category One international hub, and it is the only airport in the region with direct flights to major cities in the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Whenever such a facility of immense national importance is implicated in drug trafficking, experts say the consequences could be dire and would risk eroding global trust in the aviation industry.

“Among many other things, it would trigger tighter checks on our people or even suspension of direct flights that would attract devastating consequences for tourism and trade,” observes Musamali.

“Industries such as Kenya’s lucrative flower and fresh produce exports, which depend on seamless cargo movement through JKIA, could face costly delays or outright bans,” adds Musamali.

A downgrade by international regulators such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) would not only dent the country’s reputation but also restrict routes and partnerships.

Diplomatically, some experts aver that the scandal undermines Kenya’s standing in global counter-narcotics cooperation and raises the danger of Kenya being branded a narco-transit state.
“ We are treading on dangerous grounds, and the sooner we reset things and clean up our reputation, the better,” says Chris Otieno, a security analyst.
Currently, JKIA’s Formation Criminal Investigations Office is led by Bridget Kanyai, while the Anti-Narcotics Unit is under Suleiman Nahid.

But even with a whole anti-narcotics department occupying offices at the airport, the infiltration by drug cartels seems to have taken root with sheer ease.

For years, Kenya has wrestled with the vexing and often hidden narcotics problem, and most of the time, efforts to confront the subject head-on have been met with tough political backlash.

Historically, one of the most dramatic chapters came in December 2010, when then-Internal Security Minister Prof George Saitoti stood in Parliament with an intelligence dossier and openly named high-profile politicians who claimed to be drug barons.