VIENNA, 3 April (UNODC) - The Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, on Monday welcomed the destruction of more than a ton of cocaine by the Kenyan authorities.
A consignment of around 1.1 tons of cocaine, seized in December 2004, was incinerated on March 31 under an order of the High Court in Nairobi. UNODC advised the Kenyan government on the safe disposal of the drug.
"I am delighted to see Kenya destroying a huge haul of illegal drugs," Mr Costa said.
"This cocaine had a street value of perhaps 100 million dollars if it had reached Europe or North America. That is 100 million dollars of criminal money which has now gone up in smoke. The cocaine would have done incalculable damage to the people who use it and if the gangs had managed to sell it, they would have spent the proceeds on equally nasty criminal activities."
Mr Costa said UNODC had been happy to assist the authorities in disposing of the cocaine safely. "We encourage Kenya to redouble its efforts to intercept drug shipments and hope other African countries will follow this excellent example."
***
For further information, please contact:
Richard Murphy
Chief, Advocacy Section
Telephone: +43 1 26060 5761
E-mail: richard.murphy@unodc.org
