In five days, two men were drugged as they sipped their favourite drinks in bars 28 kilometres apart within the Nairobi metropolitan area, and robbed of Sh800,000.
Police believe that the incidents, in Lavington and Ruiru, could be just two of many in which a gang of three – two women and a man – have drugged and robbed several well-to-do men in bars.
For Edgar Otachi Mokua, a round of drinks on the night of July 7 became his last, as the drugs allegedly slipped into his glass poisoned the up-and-coming quantity surveyor to death. The gang stole Sh300, 000 from him.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has now placed the same woman in the Lavington club where Mokua was last seen enjoying drinks with her, and in Ruiru five days later where another man lived to tell how he lost Sh500,000.
Two years ago, the DCI released a statement ahead of the December festive season warning the public to beware of gangs targeting bar and nightclub patrons.
In the warning, the DCI said most reported cases involved men being targeted by women, and advised the public to keep an eye on their drinks and avoid accepting drinks from strangers.
While several individuals have been arrested in relation to stupefying, the menace lives on as the bodies of some victims, like Mokua, give in.
CCTV footage recovered from the Lavington and Ruiru establishments confirms that the same woman spent time with both men before they sent large sums of money to her in what police now say was the result of their drinks being spiked.
Investigators have found that in both incidents, almost immediately after receiving money from the victims, the woman sent some of the loot to two other individuals – a man and a woman – who are now believed to be accomplices in the stupefying scheme.
A screengrab of CCTV footage showing a woman who walked out of a bar in Lavington in the company of Edgar Mokua on July 7, 2026.
Photo credit: Pool
We have concealed the identities of the three individuals suspected to be members of a stupefying gang, and that of the Ruiru victim, for legal reasons.
Police established that the mystery woman, now a person of interest in the investigation into Mokua’s death, lives in Kasarani.
An investigator familiar with the case said that the woman and her alleged accomplices have not been seen at their homes since the murder investigation started.
To investigators, the three are on the run.
Police have recorded statements from waiters, security personnel and a manager who were on duty at the bar in Lavington where Mokua was last seen alive.
In their statements, the staff said that Mokua, 53, was a regular at the establishment. The woman was not.
She joined Mokua at the bar counter, and they spent some time together.
CCTV footage shows Mokua dressed in a black tracksuit with white stripes on the sleeves and hips, leaving the bar at around 10pm on July 7 in the company of the mystery woman who donned a red dress and black cardigan.
As they walked out of the bar, another man was trying to speak with Mokua.
Another woman joined them at the parking lot, then a car stopped in front of them. The three got into the car, which then drove out. And those were the last people Mokua was seen with alive.
That night, Sh300,000 was sent from Mokua’s mobile phone to the woman’s.
The father of two did not get home, prompting his family to file a missing person’s report at Muthangari police station the next day, and appeal to the public for any information on his whereabouts.
The following morning, police in Kasarani received a report of an unidentified body lying in Roysambu. Crime Scene Investigators noted that there were no visible injuries on the body.
The entrance of Nairobi Funeral Home located along Ngong Road.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
On July 9, Mokua’s family visited the morgue as part of their search for the quantity surveyor, and identified him.
As the DCI’s Homicide Investigation Bureau took over Mokua’s case, another stupefying incident was reported on July 13 at the Gatong’ora police station in Ruiru.
The man was enjoying his drink, and at a table next to him, there was a group of women. One of the women then smiled at him and asked if she could join his table.
The businessman agreed. The two sat together drinking and laughing, but the man only remembers the first few minutes of that session.
The man recalls walking out of the bar with the woman at some point, before returning to their table to drink and laugh some more.
He would black out, only to wake up at around 3.30am with no phone, wallet or money. The man reported the incident to police.
After replacing his SIM card, the businessman realised that all money from his mobile money wallet had been transferred to a woman.
He also learned that his phone had been used to borrow money, which was also sent to the same woman’s phone. In total, Sh500,000 had been sent to her.
When officers from the DCI’s intelligence wing, the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB), retrieved CCTV footage from the Ruiru bar, they soon realised that the woman in the footage was the same person wanted in connection with Mokua’s death five days earlier.
The DCI’s homicide detectives followed the money in this case and found that the trail was eerily similar to that in Mokua’s case.
Funds were sent to the mystery woman, who then sent some of it to the same man and woman in the money trail from Mokua’s phone.
Police have since established the identities of the three individuals and believe that they are on the run after failing to reach them on the phone or find them in their homes.
A postmortem examination on Mokua’s body returned an inconclusive cause of death, with a toxicology examination now expected to confirm whether drugs slipped into his drink could have cost him his life.
