Detectives based in Moyale Sub County made a significant drug bust on Monday, uncovering narcotics hidden in sacks of beans destined for an unknown location.
Acting on a tip-off from the public, the detectives responded to reports of a suspicious individual with four sacks of beans at a bus booking office.
Upon arrival, they found the sacks left unattended at the entrance, with the owner supposedly away seeking authorization papers from local Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) offices.
To ascertain the contents of the sacks, the officers deployed a police sniffer dog, which alerted them to something suspicious inside.
The sacks were then taken to the DCI Moyale offices where they were opened, revealing 22 bales of cannabis sativa with an estimated street value of Sh435,000.
Efforts to trace and apprehend the suspect, who remains at large, are ongoing. Meanwhile, the recovered cannabis sativa is being kept as evidence.
Police have discovered that the cargo was intended for Nairobi, marking the latest in a series of such seizures along the route. Much of the bhang seized in the region originates from Ethiopia.
Moyale town, the largest trading center in the area, is a hotspot for contraband, including Kenya’s popular variety of bhang. Besides Moyale, other border points used for smuggling bhang include Sololo, Uran, Forolle, and Dukana.
Dealers employ various methods to smuggle bhang into Kenya, often using unofficial or unpatrolled routes, especially at night. Moyale town accounts for over 75 percent of these activities.
Smugglers transport the bhang from these centers to Nairobi using two main routes: the direct Moyale-Nairobi highway via Marsabit town and Isiolo, and an unofficial route through a cutline from Funannyata in Sololo to the Yamicha plains of Merti sub-county in Isiolo.
