On 19th August, the daily Nation reported that detectives probing the illegal importation of a huge consignment of cigarettes from Montenegro, and shipped from St Petersburg by Maersk, are trying to solve the puzzle of the 49 containers that were found to be only a quarter full. The consignment that was previously believed to be some 196 million cigarettes; at least 5 each for each Kenyan man, woman and child, has now put Kenya on the spot as a major illicit tobacco trading and transit point. Shipping manifest data show that the cigarettes were shipped in 2 consignments, 44 containers by Quality GS Limited registered in the name of Rose Chebet (a household help) and Xplico Insurance Limited owned by a Kenyan, Mr Patrick Ndirangu and two foreign nationals Keith David Beekmeyer (American) and Mr Altaf Husein Bhurawala (British). The smuggling ring is said to use the free zones like Dubai as they make their way into the country turning Kenya into a country used on paper to dispatch the goods from their countries of origin in the illicit trade and tax evasion racket.
