TANZANIA DRUGS
Tanzania’s drug agency says a Tanzanian businessman it calls a key figure in an international trafficking network was arrested in Kenya on Saturday 7 November 2026. The agency names him as Saleh Khamis Baseleman, known as Mbwiga, and says he lives in Mombasa and sourced drugs from Afghanistan.
The agency says he was detained in Kwale County, on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, in a joint operation that also seized a large haul of suspected methamphetamine. It describes everyone held as a suspect, and no court has ruled on the allegations.
Key Facts
- Who: Saleh Khamis Baseleman, known as Mbwiga, a Mombasa businessman, arrested on 7 November 2026, the agency says.
- Haul in Kenya: Kenyan police report 454 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine, worth about US$28 million (3.6 billion Kenyan shillings).
- Haul in Tanzania: 299 packets of methamphetamine and heroin were found in two Ford Ranger vehicles in Dar es Salaam.
- Network: Tanzania’s drug agency says it spans Afghanistan, South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Dubai.
- Not known: The charges, the court that will try him, and whether he will be sent to Tanzania.
Seven people were arrested after linked raids in Tanzania and Kenya, according to Tanzania’s drug agency. Kenyan police report three arrests linked to the Kwale operation.
What Tanzanian Officials Announced
Aretas Lyimo, Commissioner General of Tanzania’s Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA), briefed the press in Dar es Salaam on Monday 9 November 2026. He said seven people were arrested in a special operation that ran across Tanzania and Kenya.
The case began in Dar es Salaam, where DCEA officers found 299 packets hidden in two Ford Ranger vehicles. Lyimo said 275 packets held methamphetamine, a synthetic stimulant, and 24 held heroin.
Four suspects were arrested there: a Ugandan man and three Tanzanians from Dar es Salaam. Lyimo said they told investigators they had collected the drugs in Mombasa and brought them into Tanzania through the Horohoro border post, on the Kenya–Tanzania border in the Tanga Region.
The Raid on the Kenyan Coast
Lyimo said the DCEA then worked with Kenyan authorities to trace the source of the drugs. He said that on 7 November the two sides seized 454 packages of methamphetamine in Kwale County and arrested three more people, including Baseleman.
Kenya’s national police report 454 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine recovered in Kwale County, worth 3.6 billion Kenyan shillings (about US$28 million at 128.89 shillings per US$1, the 6 November close). They say the operation was carried out within a multi-agency framework.
In Plain English
- The DCEA is Tanzania’s national agency for fighting illegal drugs.
- Methamphetamine is a strong synthetic stimulant, often sold as crystal or powder.
- A suspect is a person held for investigation who has not been convicted.
What Tanzania Says About Mbwiga
The DCEA accuses Baseleman of ordering drugs directly from Afghanistan and shipping them by sea to the coast near Mombasa. From there, Lyimo said, they were sent on to several countries, including Tanzania.
Lyimo also linked him to a seizure of 3.5 tonnes of narcotics in December 2023 in Kigamboni, a district of Dar es Salaam, and in the Iringa Region, in southern Tanzania. The DCEA says the wider network reaches Afghanistan, South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Dubai.
What Is Not Known
We found no statement from either government on what charges Baseleman faces, which country’s courts will hear the case, or whether he will be moved to Tanzania. The DCEA says only that legal procedures between Tanzania and Kenya are continuing.
One Kenyan report says a 45-year-old man named Saleh Khamis was arrested by Tanzanian authorities on 5 November and handed to Kenyan police at the Lunga Lunga–Horohoro border crossing. We could not confirm that he is the same man as Baseleman, so the Kwale arrest rests on the DCEA’s account.
The two sides also count the Kenyan haul in different units, 454 packages and 454 kilograms, so the weight of each package is not known. We found no announced court date.
What to Watch Next
The first checkpoint is any announcement of charges or of the court that will hear the case. The second is whether Tanzania requests the transfer of the suspects held in Kenya.
For readers outside East Africa, the case shows two neighbours running linked raids across a shared border; our reports on drug cases in Cabo Verde and Mauritius show the same pattern elsewhere in Africa. Background is in our guides to Tanzania and Kenya, and more news is on our Tanzania page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was arrested in Kenya?
Tanzania’s drug agency says Saleh Khamis Baseleman, known as Mbwiga, a Tanzanian businessman living in Mombasa, was arrested on 7 November 2026. It calls him a key figure in an international network and describes him as a suspect.
How much was seized in Kenya?
Kenyan police report 454 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine worth 3.6 billion Kenyan shillings (about US$28 million). Tanzania’s drug agency counts the haul as 454 packages.
Has he been charged?
We found no announcement of charges from either country. Tanzania’s drug agency says legal procedures between the two countries are continuing.
Sources: Drug Control and Enforcement Authority of Tanzania, press briefing of 9 November 2026 (dcea.go.tz); Kenyan police statements on the Kwale seizure, as reported on 8 November 2026. Kenyan shillings converted at the 6 November 2026 close.
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