Police officers in Nakuru on Thursday seized 472 kilogrammes of bhang with a street value of Sh14 million.
Nakuru County Police Commander Peter Mwanzo said officers from Bahati police station were conducting routine patrols along the Nakuru-Nyahururu highway when they flagged down a vehicle.
He said that the vehicle was heading to Nyahururu when the driver defied orders to stop forcing the officers to give a chase.
Mr Mwanzo said that the driver, who was alone in the vehicle, noted that he was being followed by officers and sped off. However, the officers managed to intercept the vehicle at Ahero Trading Center within Bahati.
The driver applied emergency brakes and jumped out of the vehicle escaping to a nearby Bush and left the vehicle behind. Upon inspection of the vehicle, the officers found the consignment packed in 16 sacks with different weights all amounting to 472 kilogrammes.
He said the vehicle was towed to Bahati police station and the officers drawn from the Nakuru Directorate of Criminal Investigation anti-narcotic unit were called for processing.
A consignment of bhang nabbed by police officers at the Ahero shopping centre along the Nakuru- Nyahururu highway
Photo credit: Mercy Koskei | Nation Media Group
“There has been an outcry from the community that their livestock is being stolen prompting officers to conduct patrol. In the morning the officers noted that there was a vehicle approaching but when they tried to stop it the driver defied orders forcing them to follow it. They later found it was ferrying narcotic drugs,” he said.
“Our officers are on a high alert to bring to an end, drug trafficking in the region to salvage the lives of young people. I want to applaud them for their work in intercepting it at the supply stage before it reached the market,” he added.
Mr Mwanzo put drug traffickers on notice, saying his team had intensified surveillance in all roadblocks and routes to ensure narcotics are not sneaked into the country from Ethiopia.
He appealed to the public to collaborate with the security teams by providing crucial information to help in arresting others in the illegal business.
According to Mr Mwanzo, police have launched a manhunt for the fugitive driver. Investigations are underway to establish who the owner of the vehicle is.
