Police on Monday arrested three male suspects who were distilling chang’aa and had hidden 75 litres of it in a church compound in Murang'a to avoid detection.
The officers, who were acting on a tip-off, also seized 101 stones of bhang from two female suspects and Sh2,340 they had as proceeds of the trade.
According to area police boss Cleophas Juma, officers found the five suspects at Gikindu village while busy at work distilling the illicit liquor. Another group was tasked with transporting the finished product to the nearby Presbyterian Church of East Africa.
Police officers from Maragua Police Station at the scene where three suspected Chang'aa distillers were arrested on Monday morning.
Photo credit: Mwangi Muiruri | Nation Media Group
He said several faithful had complained that the illegal trade was happening within the precincts of the church since police officers rarely search such compounds.
“We managed to arrest the distillers as well as the narcotics dealers. But the transporting team escaped,” he said.
The suspects were charged in court and they pleaded guilty to manufacturing, storing and marketing illicit brew.
Anthony Ngugi Mwangi, 32, Peterson Macharia Kihara, 30, and Kelvin Mwangi Ng'ang'a, 28, appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Shivai Agade at the Kigumo law courts.
Mwangi was found to be the mastermind of the crime and was fined Sh100,000 or serve 12 months in prison in default.
Kihara was fined Sh20,000 or serve six months in prison. Ng'ang'a was charged as an accomplice in the crimes and was fined Sh20,000 or serve six months in prison in default.
Following the arrest, Mr Juma urged local youths to reach out to the government for help with starting small enterprises instead of wasting their lives and those of their fellow age mates.
Mr Juma added that Murang’a County security teams were at war with illegal distillers, narcotics dealers and bar owners who flout Covid-19 protocols.
Earlier, police had raided Gikomora village and arrested two suspects in possession of 700 grammes of bhang that was concealed in school bags. The suspects were also reported to be in school uniform despite not being students.
“Their purpose was to pass as secondary school children to avoid detection but our intelligence was able to identify them and gave the tip to us. We were able to pick them up and they will be charged in court,” he said.
