Six Iranians Arrested as Kenya Seizes $52m Methamphetamine Shipment in Indian Ocean

Nairobi: Kenyan authorities have seized a record narcotics consignment valued at KES 8 billion ($52 million) and arrested six Iranian nationals aboard a stateless vessel intercepted in the Indian Ocean, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.

The 1,024-kilogram methamphetamine shipment, with a confirmed purity level of 98%, was discovered on MV Ighol, roughly 630 kilometers east of Mombasa, following an intelligence-led multi-agency operation.

Officials described the seizure as one of Kenya’s most significant maritime drug busts in recent years.

“This decisive intervention forms part of our contribution to global efforts to dismantle transnational organized crime networks, including narcotics trafficking, terrorism financing, and illicit financial flows,” Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said in a statement.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) led the operation, supported by the Kenya Navy, Kenya Coast Guard Service, National Intelligence Service, Kenya Ports Authority, and Kenya Revenue Authority.

The detained Iranians are under interrogation and will be arraigned once investigations are complete, Murkomen said.

The seizure highlights Kenya’s growing role as a frontline state in combating international drug trafficking routes that span from Asia through the Indian Ocean to East Africa.

Methamphetamine and heroin have increasingly been trafficked along this corridor, targeting African, European, and Middle Eastern markets.

Kenya’s Interior Ministry said it will continue collaborating with international security partners to trace and disrupt the criminal networks behind the operation. “We remain steadfast in strengthening maritime surveillance and inter-agency cooperation,” Murkomen said.

Officials said the operation underscores Nairobi’s efforts to tighten border and maritime security amid rising concerns over narcotics smuggling, illicit financing, and organized transnational crime in the Western Indian Ocean.