VZCZCXYZ0007
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNR #2550/01 1710545
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200545Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 0495

UNCLAS NAIROBI 002550 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT for AF/E 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL SNAR KE
SUBJECT:  Nairobi Mini-Dublin Group Views on Kenya 
 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY: Nairobi Mini-Dublin Group consensus is that 
Kenya is increasingly becoming a major transit route for 
cocaine and heroin, from South America and Asia, to European 
and other Western markets. Corruption, weak law enforcement, 
and lack of political will continue to make Kenya an 
attractive option to drug traffickers and other organized 
criminals associated with them.  Traffickers are employing 
some new tactics to get their product past customs controls. 
END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (SBU) Nairobi's Mini-Dublin Group convened on June 7 to 
discuss the status of counternarcotics efforts in Kenya. 
The Nairobi Mini-Dublin Group consists of the European 
Commission and the Member States of the EU, the United 
States, Canada, Australia, Japan and Norway. 
 
¶3.  (U) BACKGROUND: Kenya?s location between Europe and 
South Asia has made it a long and established trading route 
between the two regions. This facilitates both the legal and 
illegal transportation of goods to Europe and beyond. 
Mombasa is a major regional maritime port of entry.  Nairobi 
is East Africa's main regional hub. Additionally, long and 
porous coastal and land borders allow numerous unregulated 
crossings. 
 
¶4.  (U) It is estimated that since 2004 cocaine has 
overtaken heroin as the main illicit narcotic being 
trafficked through Kenya, with quantities being in the 
multiple tons per year. European law enforcement agencies 
have reported a 10-fold increase in cocaine seizures 
originating from the country since early 2005. In 2004, 1.15 
tons of cocaine were seized in Kenya; the largest ever- 
recorded in Africa. Recent figures have also shown that over 
160 kg of cocaine has been seized in 2006 from couriers 
traveling by air from Nairobi to a range of European cities, 
plus to America and Australia. These courier seizures alone 
are estimated to be worth over $10 million USD. 
 
¶5.  (U) In addition, there is increasing evidence of drug 
use in Kenya. Authorities are concerned about the 
transmission of HIV through the sharing of syringes. 
 
¶6.  (U) A significant number of Kenyan farmers illegally 
grow cannabis on a commercial basis for a domestic market. 
Law Enforcement officials work with the Kenyan Wildlife 
Service to conduct aerial surveys of areas of cultivation. 
 
-------------------------- 
Kenya?s anti-drug Strategy 
-------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) Kenyan law enforcement agencies rely on the 1994 
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act for 
enforcement and interdiction activities. Revisions to the 
Act on the seizure, analysis and disposal of illegal drugs 
were implemented in March 2006. The National Agency for the 
Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA) has recently been 
reformed which is hoped will lead to improvements in their 
role in combating drug abuse. NACADA is leading inter-agency 
efforts to develop a National Drug Control Strategy for 
Kenya. 
 
¶8.  (U) Kenya is party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 
1961 UN Single Convention and its 1972 Protocol and the 1971 
UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Kenya is also 
party to the UN Corruption Convention and to the UN 
Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its 
three protocols. Kenya does not have an effective legal 
regime to combat money laundering. The Government has no 
regulations to freeze or seize criminal accounts and has not 
passed a law that specifically outlaws money laundering. 
 
---------------------------- 
Mini-Dublin Group Assessment 
---------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) The mini-Dublin group assessed that there is little 
political will to tackle the growing issue of drugs 
trafficking into and through Kenya. This lack of will is 
demonstrated by the Government?s unwillingness to act 
effectively against grand corruption and dismantle the 
culture of impunity that exists to protect the guilty 
parties. 
 
¶10.  (U) It is clear that Kenya is increasingly becoming a 
major transit route for cocaine and heroin because counter 
narcotics law enforcement activities in traditional transit 
routes such as West Africa are displacing the trade to less 
traditional ones. 
 
¶11.  (U) The dual but linked problems of widespread 
corruption and weak law enforcement agencies in the country 
has made, and will continue to make, Kenya an attractive 
option to drugs traffickers and other organized criminals 
associated with them. Corruption specifically allows 
organized criminals to operate in a less risky environment, 
as they are able to buy both political and law enforcement 
protection and influence. 
 
RANNEBERGER