By COFEK | June 20, 2026: Nearly a month after a Shanzu court ordered the destruction of 1,036 kilogrammes of methamphetamine — worth Sh8.2 billion — seized aboard Iranian vessel MV Mashallah, the drugs remain sitting in storage. The Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU) has filed for more time, pushing the destruction to late July or August.
The original June 11 destruction date at Bamburi Cement was set precisely because the court feared theft, corruption, substitution and cartel interference. Those concerns haven’t disappeared. They’ve deepened.
Every day those drugs remain in storage is another day a well-connected insider can engineer a diversion. The ANU’s affidavit cites logistical complexity — coordination with the Navy, NEMA, ODPP, Government Chemist and others. Legitimate reasons, perhaps. But also a remarkably convenient checklist for someone needing weeks to arrange an inside job.
The uncomfortable question Kenya must ask openly: Is someone buying time?
At Sh8.2 billion street value, this consignment is worth more than the annual budgets of several county governments. The incentive for diversion is enormous. The court had already flagged that officers guarding the haul face irresistible corruption pressure.
Authorities must name every official with access to the Mtongwe Navy facility, audit the chain of custody daily, and live-stream the eventual destruction — no exceptions.
Delay here is not administrative. It is a security threat.
