Viagra and sex toys among items KRA impounded at airport

In a recent operation by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) against the importation of prohibited goods, sex toys were impounded at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

The 14 sex toys were found in the luggage of passengers who claimed that they were for personal use. The owners of the toys said they hid them in their hand luggage to evade detection by electronic scanners at the airport.

A customs and border control officer based at the passenger terminal said: "Besides collecting revenue, our role is also to ensure society is safe from illegal products.

“The hand luggage which doesn’t pass through the scanner is checked at the customs area for non-inclusive verification,” the officer said.

He added: “Physical verification involves checking of dutiable goods and prohibited or restricted goods. Dutiable goods are taxed and those that require permits are kept until the owners comply.”

KRA says that within a short period of time, they have intercepted 132 prohibited items and 431 restricted items in a total of 440 interceptions.

The restricted items include 339 drones, seven guns, 18 toy guns, 11 magazines, eight handcuffs, 24 walkie-talkies, and 24 Viagra packs.

Other items nabbed are shisha pots and flavours. When a passenger from another country is found with prohibited items such as guns, they are told about what the law of the land says about those items. If their products require a permit, they are told to get one. At times, the guests are handed back their properties and sent back to their countries.

Other items that were impounded were skin-whitening creams and soaps from Somalia. “Most sex toys come from European countries,” another officer at another terminal said.