[BITList] Drug Smuggling !

[Michael Feltham]

Ship that brought in KShs360m cocaine goes

missing from Mombasa port

The vessel was allegedly sneaked out to avoid sinking by Uhuru
By Joe Baraka
The vessel – MSC Posetano, at the centre of suspected cocaine haul worth Sh360 million was hurriedly sneaked out of the Mombasa Port following fears that it could be blown and sunk. Questions arose after another vessel MSC Nicole, which docked at berth number 16, was hastily ordered to offload its cargo, the Star reports. Posetano reportedly docked on 27th at 22:50 hours and left on 29th at 04:03 hours then Nicole which docked on 29th at 05:15hours left on 30th at 08:30hours. A third vessel, Na-Toure docked at the same berth number 16 on 24th July 17:05hrs and left on 27th July at 18:48hours – the latter is a different shipping line operated by CMA-CGM. It is being alleged that one container out of the six which were marked for the investigation has also gone missing in unexplained circumstances.It should be noted that offloading of cargo from a vessel normally takes at least 3-4 days and even up to 5 days in some cases. The paper suggest that investigators are also looking at another contradicting scenario of the bill of lading being doctored therefore making it difficult to trace the ship due to the tampering. It is said, a transshipment of cargo which included the several containers of brown sugar was done on 10th June 2016 at the Port of Santos in Brazil and loaded to MSC Letizia with registration number s V. SS621R. The bill of lading printed on July 29th further revealed that the cargo belongs to Mshalle commodities, Bugolobi industrial area, Uganda. The six containers which were enlisted and marked were measured 18 by 20 and each contained 520 bags of brown sugar. Sources at the port reportedly said that owners and intermediaries of the cargo in the multi-billion vessel developed cold feet, faced with the possibility that the media could publish the name of the vessel and President Uhuru Kenyatta could order for its destruction and ultimate sinking. “We are sure it could have been sunk, the speed at which the cargo was offloaded at the port is unusual and most of us were chased away,” said the undisclosed source as quoted in the paper.Also according to reports, people privy to the multi-agency investigation said that the MSC Posetano was loaded with the cargo at the port of Oman.He said: “If Kenyan authorities will be keen on this, several drug barons will be arrested. This is a big catch and a major blow to the barons.”When reached for comment, head of security at the port Mariam Khamisi refused to pick the calls despite earlier promising to talk about the matter. “Call me after 5 minutes. Am having my lunch and when am done we will talk more,” she reportedly said, before dropping the call, hurriedly. Police are yet to make any statement over the seizure and those interrogated in connection to the haul. Source: ZIPO


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