Kenya Airways Reacts After Its Passenger Was Arrested with Sh1.2 Billion Heroin in India

Kenya Airways (KQ) has released a statement after one of its passengers was arrested trying to smuggle drugs into India.

Rukshana Shaikh was intercepted at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on Wednesday carrying 11.94kgs of heroin.

“The substance was concealed inside the trolley bags and file folders,” an officer from India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said

The substance is valued at approximately Rs 84 Crores (Sh1.27 billion) in the illicit market. 

The DRI said the suspect arrived at the Mumbai airport from Harare in Zimbabwe through Nairobi on a Kenya Airways flight.

Upon interrogation, Shaikh said the drugs were handed over to her in Harare and were to be delivered to two persons in Mumbai. 

DRI officers identified and arrested the said recipients, who had come to receive the passenger and the contraband outside the airport.

In a statement, KQ said: “Kenya Airways (KQ) has received information that one of our guests on transit was detained by the Indian security agencies at Mumbai Airport for allegedly being in possession of narcotics.”

It added: “The matter is under investigation, and KQ is cooperating with the investigating agencies. KQ has zero tolerance towards any action by its guests or employees that contravenes local or international laws prevalent in the countries of its operations.”