Samburu smugglers: 3 suspects arrested with bhang valued at Sh6m
Police in Samburu County have arrested three suspects who were found trafficking 196 kilograms of bhang valued at Sh6 million.
Officers acting on a tip-off managed to find the illegal substance, which was concealed inside sacks of beans in a trailer heading to Nairobi.
The driver of the trailer and two others who were in the vehicle were arrested and taken to Archers Post in Samburu County.
The officers who made the arrest were accompanied by sniffer dogs and the drugs have been kept as exhibits.
“The vehicle has also been detained pending further investigations and also the illegal substance has been kept as exhibit,” a police report seen by Nairobi News read in part.
This is the latest such seizure to take place on the route.
On Monday last week, security officers in Wajir County impounded a lorry that was ferrying suspected contraband sugar and rice.
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The lorry was intercepted by officers at the Habaswein road barrier along the Isiolo-Mandera highway.
Officers attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) found the lorry carrying 560 bags of 50 kilos and 250 bags of rice, each weighing 25 kilos.
Police believe the commodities were being smuggled into the country from the neighboring country of Somalia for resale.
Meanwhile, two women were on January 6, 2023, with five pieces of elephant tusks that weighed 111 kilograms. This happened in Kwale County.
Police say that the tusks have a street value of Sh11 million.
The two women were trying to look for a market for the tusks when they approached undercover officials without knowing.
They were arrested and, on Monday, January 8, 2023, arraigned before Msambweni court for dealing in a wildlife trophy of an endangered species.
The two were jointly charged with dealing in wildlife trophies of an endangered species without a permit or other lawful exemptions, contrary to Section 92(2) as read with Section 105(1) of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, 2013.