The bhang highway: How Nairobi-Eldoret road fuels drug trafficking
Some of the bhang that police seized near Delamere in Naivasha, Nakuru County, following an accident on March 23, 2019. PHOTO | MACHARIA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The Nairobi - Nakuru - Eldoret highway has in the past held the tag of a dangerous highway, because of the many accidents that occurred along the route.
However, the highway is now fast gaining notoriety because of the increasing incidents of bhang smuggling reported along the route.
The key highway is the artery that connects the capital Nairobi and Western Kenya as well as Kenya and the landlocked countries of Uganda, Southern Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi.
In a period of one year, more than seven cases of bhang smuggling have been reported along the busy highway.
Independent investigations by the Nation indicate bhang traffickers from as far as Tanzania, parts of Nyanza and Western region are slowly transforming the busy high into a conduit through which they ferry the illegal drug to markets in Nairobi and Mombasa cities and other parts of the country.
Other routes used include the Nakuru- Nyahururu-Nyeri highways and the Kisii-Kericho-Nakuru-Nairobi routes.
The criminals have literally turned the highway into a bhang trafficking conduit, despite police dragnets along the route.
“Initially bhang traffickers feared using the route because of the numerous roadblocks that were mounted along the road. However, as the police reduced the roadblocks, most of them were emboldened and have been ferrying bhang and other drugs using the highway,” a senior detective from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) revealed to the Nation.
Police roadblocks that were initially placed at Mau Summit, Salgaa, Ngata, Free Area, Kikopey, weighbridge, Naivasha town, Karai, among other areas were reduced on orders from ‘above’.
Despite efforts to end the illegal trade by security agencies, dealers are coming up with ingenious ways of ensuring the drug reaches their customers.
“In most cases, bhang traffickers collude with truck drivers and pack the bhang in bags with other items before it is transported. Sometimes they simply use private vehicles because they know these are not easily flagged down by traffic officers, “added another police officer who operates along the busy highway, adding that traffickers also prefer to travel in the wee hours of the morning or at night before midnight.
In Nakuru, County Police Commander Peter Mwanzo has been talking tough and has put drug traffickers on notice, but it seems, those in the trade have devised new ways to evade police dragnets.
According to police, traffickers sometimes use Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) like Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, Subaru Outback, Toyota RAV4, among others.
“I wish to put drug traffickers on notice. My team has intensified surveillance in all roadblocks and routes to ensure narcotics are not sneaked into the country from any route. I appeal to the public to collaborate with the security teams by providing crucial information to help in arresting others in the illegal business," said Mr Mwanzo, after seizing bhang valued at Sh14 million.
The Nation has established that most of the bhang is ferried from the Kenya-Tanzania border and parts of Migori County including Isebania where the business continues to prosper despite tough talk by the security authorities.
Authorities say a big percentage of seized cannabis originates from Tanzania and is smuggled into Kenya through the Isebania/Sirare border point.
Most of the bhang is also grown in Migori County.
Police records indicate that in less than five months’ bhang valued at tens of millions of shillings has been confiscated along the Eldoret-Nakuru-Nairobi highway.
In the most recent incident, on January 12, police on patrol, acting on a tip off, impounded bhang estimated to be worth more than Sh 2million, at the Gilgil weighbridge, along the Nakuru-Nairobi highway.
According to the police, the motor vehicle, a Toyota Ipsum Silver, was ferrying the drug from Kuria in Migori County.
“The vehicle was being driven by a Mr Edwin Mwita Maseke aged 29, who was accompanied by the co-driver Robert Wiese,21. They were headed from Migori to Limuru when the vehicle was impounded," read a police report.
The suspects were booked at the Gilgil police station to aid in further investigations.
Earlier, on December 8, police in Nakuru acting on a tip-off seized 472 kilograms 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 the vehicle ferrying the bhang.
He said that the vehicle was heading to Nyahururu when the driver defied orders to stop, forcing the officers to give 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, along the Nakuru-Nyahururu highway.
Police found the consignment packed in 16 sacks with different weights all amounting to 472 kilogrammes. The driver fled, leaving behind the vehicle.
“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 the bhang at the supply stage before it reached the market,” he added.
These are not isolated incidents, in March 25,2019, business in Marula area near Naivasha town along the highway was disrupted for hours after a motorist ferrying bhang estimated to be valued at Sh2 million, was involved in an accident.
During the shocking incident, police arrested the 46-year-old driver of the vehicle who was escorted to a nearby hospital under tight police security.
Another suspect fled during the incident.
In yet another recent incident, police seized bhang estimated to be valued at Sh3.5 million in street value after a raid at Naivasha's Kayole estate.
A woman believed to be the main distributor of the drug in the town escaped a police dragnet.
The officers found 11 sacks of the drug parked ready for sale.
It emerged, they had been ferried from Migori in Nyanza.
Surprisingly, even with seizure of large quantities of the drug, business still thrives.
Such is the extent in which trafficking of the drug has become rampant along the busy highway.
“A lot of bhang is grown in Migori and even in Tanzania and after maturity, drug barons prefer ferrying it to bigger markets in Nairobi, Mombasa and other parts of the country,” said Joseph Chacha, a resident of Isebania, Migori.
According to Chacha, Tanzanian authorities do little to limit the growing of the crop in the country.
The traffickers of the drug, it has emerged prefer private vehicles like Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, Toyota Probox cars among others, to transport the drug to their destinations in Kenya.
However, in a bid to change tact, even trucks are being used in the illicit trade.
At the Nakuru Central Police Station alone, a number of vehicles said to have been used in ferrying of the drug are still held at the station.
