War on bhang trade heightened as smugglers adopt new tactics
Interior PS Karanja Kibicho addresses journalists in Meru after a meeting with administrators on July 19, 2022. He said a special police unit has been deployed to fight bhang smugglers.
The government has heightened the war on bhang trafficking by deploying a special police unit along the border with Ethiopia and in the Eastern and Central regions of Kenya.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho said this is a response to rampant drug trafficking and other trans-border crimes.
Security officers, particularly in the Central region, have cited a spike in the use of cookies and drinks laced with cannabis sativa, as dealers try to remain discreet.
Speaking in Meru when he met national government administration officers, Dr Kibicho said drug traffickers were changing their tactics to outsmart security checks on the Moyale-Isiolo route.
“We are well ahead of the criminals because that is what can stop it. There are patrols ongoing along the border and this region,” Dr Kibicho said.
“Smugglers have been using local methods to escape the dragnet but we have nabbed many of them. If they go through the villages, we are also there.”
Penetrate the country
He said the special police unit was making it harder for drug cartels to penetrate the country from Ethiopia.
The Central, Eastern and North Eastern regional commissioners and officials from the anti-drug abuse agency Nacada met recently in Meru to address bhang trafficking from Ethiopia.
Nacada CEO Victor Okioma said the trafficking routes and concealment methods had been identified, helping increase seizures.
“We have Eastern and North Eastern security teams because this is the route the traffickers use, while [people in] Central Kenya are largely the consumers. There has been an increase in cases in the recent past,” Mr Okioma said.
Eastern Regional Commissioner Evans Achoki said besides blocking smuggling routes, administrators had recently unearthed a farm planted with bhang worth over Sh10 million.
Central Regional Commissioner Esther Maina said there was a rise in the sale of cookies and drinks laced with cannabis as smugglers try to conceal the illegal drug in order to escape arrest.
“This is why we are coming together as security officers to ensure we are able to end this menace,” she said.
