Two women have been arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after a multi-agency security team intercepted them with suspected gold they were allegedly attempting to smuggle out of Kenya.
The suspects, identified as Mahamed Shukri Abdulahi and Sabriye Farhiyo Hussein, were stopped in the early hours of September 4, 2026, as they prepared to board an Emirates flight bound for Dubai.
Their trip was cut short after officers conducted a search that led to the discovery of suspected gold concealed on their bodies.
Investigators said Mahamed Shukri Abdullahi was found carrying a gold bar weighing 541 grams. The bar had allegedly been hidden in her hair, secured with a hairband and concealed beneath her hijab.
Her alleged accomplice, Sabriye Farhiyo Hussein, was also found with suspected gold. Officers reportedly recovered a gold pellet weighing 116.79 grams concealed inside her bra.
The two discoveries brought the total weight of the suspected gold recovered to approximately 658 grams.
“The suspects attempted to conceal the suspected gold in different parts of their clothing and on their bodies in an effort to evade detection,” investigators said.
The two women were taken into police custody and are undergoing processing as detectives prepare them for arraignment.
Investigations are continuing as authorities work to establish the source of the suspected gold and determine whether the suspects are linked to a wider mineral smuggling network.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), together with its multi-agency partners, said it remains committed to disrupting illegal mining and mineral trafficking while protecting Kenya’s natural resources from exploitation.
“We remain relentless in dismantling illegal mining and mineral smuggling networks and protecting Kenya’s precious natural resources from criminal exploitation,” the DCI said.
If you like our work, you can buy us a soda
Buy us a soda 🥤
