Iteere: Drugs war bearing fruit

Powerful drug barons are going about their lives normally because police lack evidence to make arrests.

This was disclosed Wednesday by Police Commissioner Matthew Iteere, who, however, was emphatic that the war on the illegal trade in narcotics was bearing fruit.

It means that powerful drug barons may never have their day in court despite their agents being arrested.

According to Mr Iteere, police are unable to act on the powerful drug barons for lack of evidence. The admission follows another one on March 31 when he expressed frustration in the war against drugs, citing intimidation, bribery and threats of dismissal from the powerful cartels.

“If you do not have evidence on a particular person, there is no way you are going to tarnish his or her name in connection with criminal activities unless you can avail the evidence,” he told the press yesterday on the sidelines of a regional seminar on small arms and light weapons in Nairobi.

He said the evidence the police currently had was in connection with the six people arrested with 102 kilogrammes of heroin valued at more than Sh200 million in Shanzu, Mombasa.

The six, three of whom are non-Kenyans have already been arraigned in court. But there is a general perception that the six are only agents while their bosses are sitting pretty and enjoying protection from high offices and the police.

The police are yet to brief the public on the progress in tracing the powerful barons through a satellite phone recovered from a suspect in the heroin haul said to hold the key to the big fish behind the contraband.

The phone is believed to have been used during the transfer of the heroin from a ship in the Indian Ocean.

Mr Iteere denied that the drug kingpins enjoyed police protection. “The law doesn’t segregate. We do not have the law for the big people, as you call them, and the law for the common person. We are gathering more information. If it leads us to that direction (to the barons) well and good, and God bless Kenya for that,” said Mr Iteere.

The police boss dismissed criticism of the force, saying there had been major breakthroughs in the past two months. He cited the seizure of 102kgs of heroin in Shanzu.

“I think for the last two months we have made tremendous breakthroughs in the fight against drugs in this country. In those two months, we have been able to recover bhang worth millions of shillings across the country. This is the effort of police officers and informers.”

The commissioner appealed for public support in the narcotics war.

In March, Mr Iteere disclosed that powerful drug barons were fighting back in a bid to derail the war on narcotics trafficking.

He said that the anti-narcotics team he appointed was being “intimidated” by the drug cartels, hoping the officers would yield to pressure and abandon investigations.