Greek envoy found with 25g of cocaine, when diplomacy leaves the rails

By Cyrus Ombati, The Standard

A top Greek diplomat seconded to Kenya has been arrested and charged in court after he was found carrying 25 grams of cocaine.
The official was leaving Nairobi for Athens, Greece, when Greek anti-narcotic police intercepted him on December 26.He was on vacation, highly placed sources said, yesterday.It is not clear where he got the drug, but he had left Nairobi for Athens via Cairo.
Sources said the envoy was later taken to court in Athens, where he was charged with an offence of drug trafficking and given bail.
The official was posted to the Greek embassy in Nairobi on September 10, last year, and has previously worked at The Hague and Pakistan in the same capacity. He is one of the top envoys at the Greek embassy.

Yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula said he was aware of the diplomat’s arrest, but had no details on the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Wetangula said he would study the circumstances under which the official was caught before taking any action. "Kenya and Greece are two good friends and I cannot rush into conclusions and take action on him before I get more details, but I am aware of the arrest. I will study the case first," he said.

The Greek Embassy did not respond to our inquiries. A consular official we spoke to on phone requested our inquiries be sent to him through email, after he was briefed on the reports. However, he had not responded 24 hours later.
The consular section had earlier confirmed the said official is on vacation, but cut short the conversation and demanded to have a formal inquiry sent to him via email or post.The news came in the wake of a court battle between the State and a Nigerian national accused of drug trafficking and who has refused to be deported.