This archive report was first published on 28 October 2019.
On October 28, 2019, Nairobi police launched a successful ambush operation along Limuru Road, arresting a notorious narcotics trafficker, Hillary Wanjiku Wachira, and his girlfriend, Caroline Nyambura Gituma, a university student.
According to police, Wachira had been on the run for a long time and was wanted for his involvement in narcotics trafficking. His girlfriend, Gituma, was found with 50 sachets of heroin in her hostel in Juja, Kiambu County.
Police searched Wachira's house in Juja and arrested his roommate, Gituma, who was found with drugs. The arrest comes after Wachira had previously escaped from police custody in May 2019, leading to the issuance of a warrant of arrest against him.
Police believe that Wachira is just a seller in a larger narcotics supply chain. "What we are yet to establish is how these drugs find their way into the city and the barons behind it," said Nairobi head of Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Bernard Nyakwaka.
DCI boss George Kinoti has ordered detectives to make follow-ups after such seizures to deal with the entire chain of supply. The police suspect that those behind the supply of the narcotics are powerful individuals.
Drug abuse in Nairobi, especially in slums, has become rampant, and the situation has been compounded by the easy availability of narcotics. An anti-drugs campaigner stated, "If you walk through Kampala Ndogo and Kosovo in Mathare, you will not believe it. People are dying for abusing drugs. Yet we don’t know how they get there and those behind the trade."
