A multi-agency security team in Nyahururu Sub County, Laikipia County has seized a consignment of illicit liquor that was being offloaded from some vehicles in a homestead.
The multi-agency team led by the DCC Nyahururu Muthike Ndambuki and Nyahururu Sub County Police Commander Tom Mboya Okoth, DCI and CIPU Commander visited the scene after a tip-off from the locals that suspicious vehicles were offloading some alcoholic crates in Manguo area in the outskirts of Nyahururu town.
The assorted drinks seized included; Kenya cane, Ferrari ice, Santana, Mara ice among others. Nyahururu Deputy County Commissioner Ndambuki Muthike said that they are trailing the lead given by the two suspects arrested during the raid to ensure they get to the main distillery.
“We are investigating and very soon we shall crack down on the distillery and ensure that we finish it completely because this thing is poisonous and has made people lose their eyesight in the past.
“We got a tip off from the residents and we were able to rush there and found the vehicles offloading. We got 258 crates of assorted alcoholic brands in someone’s compound. The alcohol has an estimated street value of Sh800, 000,” said Ndambuki.
The DCC said that after the arrest, they brought on board officers from KRA and Kenya Bureau of Standards who confirmed that the alcoholic drinks were counterfeit.
Nyahururu Sub County Police Commander Tom Mboya Okoth said that two people had been arrested and are currently held at Nyahururu police station awaiting arraignment. He thanked the residents through community policing for sharing information with the police.
“We have intelligence on the ground and we are using the DCI to make sure any small lead we get and we go through it. Let them look for another business because we shall root it out of our sub county. This alcohol is dangerous to our people and especially the youth,” said Okoth.
Ndambuki and mboya have vowed to run a serious crackdown of all the illicit brew dens or suspected packagers in the region.
In July this year, a multi-agency team in Ndaragwa Sub County, Nyandarua County seized a consignment of illicit liquor manufactured and packaged in a homestead. During the raid, counterfeit KRA rolls of stamps, empty bottles, unmarked bottle tops, seals and suspected ethanol were seized.
Mid last year four people succumbed to illicit liquor in Nyahururu town and two others were hospitalized with serious sight and stomach complications.
By Antony Mwangi
