This archive report was first published on 15 October 2019.
On October 14, 2019, Nanyuki police made a significant seizure of 139 kilos of bhang worth Khs 2.8 million, foiling a massive smuggling operation.
According to Laikipia East police commander, Kizito Maruti, the police intercepted the 11-tonne lorry along the Nanyuki-Nyeri highway after receiving a tip-off that it was transporting the drugs from Moyale in Marsabit County to Nairobi.
Maruti explained that upon inspection, the officers discovered a false extension on the truck's body behind the driver's cabin, which contained 62 well-wrapped packages of bhang in polythene papers.
The officers had to use electric metal grinders to cut open the hidden extension, taking close to three hours to access the drugs.
The operation was coordinated by officers from the Transnational Intelligence Unit, based at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters, who had been trailing the lorry from Moyale.
The three suspects are expected to be arraigned in court on Tuesday, where investigators will plead for more time to detain them as they investigate the matter and pursue more suspects.
Maruti stated that the operation targeted a large syndicate of drug traffickers and that detectives would seek to establish if the drugs were from a neighboring country, given that the haul emanated from Moyale, a border town to Ethiopia.
