Tanzanian found with heroin detained 3 days to allow probe
Tanzanian Jumanne Maimuna Amir at the Mombasa Law Courts on March 15, 2021, on the accusation of trafficking 5.3kg of suspected heroin.
What you need to know:
- Ms Jumanne Maimuna Amir will be detained at Port Police Station as anti-narcotic officers investigate the matter and carry out tests to ascertain that the substance she was found with was heroin.
A Mombasa court on Monday ordered the three-day detention of a Tanzanian arrested after she was found with 5.3kg of suspected heroin worth about Sh15 million.
Ms Jumanne Maimuna Amir will be detained at Port Police Station as anti-narcotic officers investigate the matter and carry out tests to ascertain that the substance she was found with was heroin.
Ms Maimuna was arrested on Sunday evening by a multi-agency team at the Moi International Airport.
Senior Resident Magistrate Vincent Adet issued the order after police, through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), sought permission for her to be detained as they finalise their probe.
State's arguments
The State submitted that Ms Maimuna has no fixed abode and could therefore disappear without a trace or move to an area outside the court’s jurisdiction.
Police also said they are apprehensive that the suspect may interfere with investigations if set free before charges are preferred against her.
The suspect, who covered her face the entire court session, did not oppose the application.
“I am ready to be detained as police do their work,” she said.
“The application by the police to have the suspect remanded in police custody is hereby allowed,” the magistrate stated in the ruling.
Ms Maimuma will be produced in court on March 18.
Major crackdown
Police have intensified their crackdown on drug traffickers following an increase in the number of foreigners arrested in Kenya over related offences.
Among those apprehended in the past are Tanzanian nationals and two Kenyans, who were accused of trafficking two kilograms of heroin worth Sh6 million.
They were arrested in February in different locations within the Mombasa Central Business District (CBD).
The Tanzanians, Mr Said Ali Juma and his wife Mariam Shaaban, were deported after pleading not guilty to the offence of being in the country illegally.
The police preferred the lesser charge, which attracted a Sh10,000 fine , after finding no evidence linking them to the consignment.
The case against their accomplices, 53-year-old Said Aboobakar and 52-year-old Mwanasomo Mohammed, is still pending in court.
