Kenyan authorities have destroyed 1,036 kilograms of high-purity methamphetamine valued at Sh8.2 billion, in one of the country’s largest drug seizures.
The narcotics were incinerated on Thursday at Bamburi Cement Factory in Mombasa following a court order, with Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen overseeing the destruction alongside senior police and military commanders.
The methamphetamine was seized in October 2025 from a stateless vessel intercepted about 340 nautical miles east of Mombasa during a maritime security operation.
Authorities escorted the consignment from a secure storage facility to the cement factory for destruction under tight security.
Officials said samples of the seized narcotics had been preserved as evidence for use in the ongoing court proceedings.
Six Iranian nationals arrested in connection with the consignment are facing drug-trafficking charges.
Murkomen said the destruction demonstrated Kenya’s commitment to disrupting international drug-trafficking networks using the country’s waters as a transit route.
The operation involved multiple security agencies, reflecting concerns over the use of the Indian Ocean maritime corridor to move large quantities of illicit drugs into the region and beyond.
The authorities said the court-supervised destruction was carried out through high-temperature incineration at the cement plant, which uses waste materials as fuel in its industrial processes.
The destruction follows the conclusion of the legal process allowing the bulk of the narcotics to be disposed of while retaining samples required for the trial.
Kenyan authorities said the operation should serve as a warning to international trafficking networks that the country’s maritime territory is being closely monitored.
The case against the six suspects remains before court.
