Two elderly women were badly injured after they were hit by a motorbike ferrying an unknown amount of bhang in Isiolo town.
The two were crossing the road when the speeding motorbike knocked them down on Saturday.
Following the crash, residents immediately arrested the rider and passenger as they tried to escape and subjected them to mob beating before they were rescued by police.
While some of the residents assisted the injured women into a vehicle that rushed them to hospital, others were busy scrambling for bhang that had scattered on the road.
Isiolo Sub-County Police Commander George Kariuki said the two women sustained abdominal injuries and were being treated at the Isiolo Referral Hospital.
“Our officers found the two suspects [having been] apprehended by the public and were taken to Isiolo Police Station. They will be arraigned after completion of investigations,” Mr Kariuki said, adding that the officers recovered a-quarter-kilogramme of bhang from the scene that will be used as an exhibit.
Eye witnesses said the bhang that was in a sack was about 10 kilogrammes, meaning that residents took away with almost the entire package.
The police boss said besides increased surveillance in the town and along the Isiolo-Moyale route, the security team would re-configure its system to establish new tactics being used by drug traffickers and dealers in order to eradicate illegal business in the region.
He appealed to the public to volunteer information to assist security organs arrest more drug dealers.
“There is a lack of goodwill from the public and we appeal to them to offer us crucial information to nail the drug dealers,” he noted.
A local leader, Osman Shariff Abukar, called for concerted efforts from all in the fight, saying bhang and other drugs available in the town had ruined the lives of many young people.
“There is a need to sustain ongoing efforts by several stakeholders and to bring other key actors in the fight so that we eradicate the illegal business that continues to ruin lives of our youth,” the Isiolo North MP hopeful said.
