20110325
Reuters

MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Police in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa said they seized 196 kg (432 lb) of heroin valued at about $5 million and arrested six people in the latest step by authorities to end drug trafficking in the country.

Officers acting on a tip off said on Friday they had arrested three Kenyans, two Iranians and a Pakistani, who oversaw the offloading of the drugs from a fishing boat into two waiting vehicles at dawn.

Both Iran and Pakistan are major transit countries for heroin from Afghanistan which produces more than 90 percent of the world's supply of the drug.

The drugs were concealed in dog food packaging, police said.

The United States has said Kenya's position makes it an ideal destination and transit point for both heroin and cocaine.

Last year the United States said it had permanently banned four senior government officials and a businessman from travelling to its territory over allegations of trafficking narcotics.

The Criminal Investigations Director, Frank Muhoro, said Kenyan authorities were working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate who was behind the heroin.

"We are working with them for the purposes of investigations on the drug menace. We are not relenting on the fight against narcotics. This is a major breakthrough," he told Reuters.

The heroin, suspects, two pistols and ammunition were flown to the capital Nairobi, Reuters witnesses said.