A road accident on the Nairobi-Nakuru highway has led to the recovery of bhang estimated to be worth more than Sh7 million, exposing how drug traffickers have turned to the use of high-end vehicles, including Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), to transport narcotics.
To traffic police officers manning the busy Nairobi -Nakuru highway, the Monday accident near Shinners Boys Senior School was just another road crash, just like many others that have occurred before along the Northern corridor.
However, to their shock, it was more than a normal accident.
Preliminary investigations by the police indicated that the driver of the Mazda CX-5, which was heading to Nairobi, was attempting to overtake, when he lost control of the vehicle and collided with an oncoming Scania trailer.
After the collision, the driver abandoned the wreckage and fled the scene, leaving behind cargo that would soon reveal a drug trafficking operation.
"During scene processing, officers discovered six sacks of suspected bhang inside the Mazda CX-5. The recovered narcotics weighed 241.5 kilogrammes with an estimated street value of about Sh7.2million.The exhibits have since been secured, with detectives from the National Anti-Narcotics Investigations Bureau (NANIB) in Nakuru taking over investigations," revealed Mr Amin Mohamed, the Director of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
A notorious drug trafficker with a number of pending cases arrested in Mombasa with sacks of bhang stuffed into a posh car after a gun drama.
Photo credit: Kevin Mutai | Nation Media Group
"Detectives have launched a manhunt for the suspect, who remains at large," he added.
The recovery of the haul has now exposed a growing trend that security agencies are grappling with, where drug traffickers have turned to the use of high-end vehicles to transport narcotics.
From high-end sedans to luxury SUVs, the sleek machines appear to be a recurring feature in drug trafficking in various parts of the country.
The high-end vehicles are used to ferry bhang and other drugs from the sources to the markets, mainly in the capital, Nairobi and other major cities.
“The drug traffickers use the high-end vehicles as a tactic to evade police detection and blend in with normal traffic, to carry larger consignments and travel quickly on major highways without drawing immediate suspicion, unlike traditional, more conspicuous methods of transport like cargo trucks, which might draw more scrutiny,” revealed a senior detective from the DCI.
“High-end vehicles are less likely to be suspected of carrying illegal cargo compared to known ‘drug trafficking vehicles’, a move that is helping drug traffickers to appear as regular motorists. At the same time, SUVs are driven at high speeds, enabling traffickers to make quick getaways and defy police orders to stop," explained the DCI officer.
However, authorities say they have noted the growing trend and intensified surveillance and operations along major drug trafficking routes, including key highways, to disrupt drug trafficking networks.
“The National Police Service remains steadfast in its commitment to dismantling drug trafficking networks and ensuring that those involved in the illicit narcotics trade are brought to justice. I wish to put drug traffickers on notice. The police have learnt the tricks and we are determined to completely disrupt drug trafficking networks operating along key transit routes in the country. We are becoming more innovative and we have intensified intelligence, to ensure we arrest these cartels that want to ruin the future of our children,” National Police Spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga told the Nation .
"We encourage Kenyans to continue collaborating with security agents and providing information anonymously, to help in arresting and dealing with drug traffickers. At the same time l urge our courts to prefer stiff penalties to help tame drug trafficking in the country," added Mr Nyaga.
High-end vehicles in Nairobi. Drug traffickers are now using high-end vehicles like Land Cruisers, Prados and Range Rovers.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The Nation has also learnt that on July 23, 2026, the DCI received several vehicles from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to strengthen efforts to combat drug trafficking and transnational organised crime.
The vehicles, donated through the US Embassy in Nairobi, have been deployed to the DCI's Anti-Narcotics Unit to support surveillance, intelligence -led operations, rapid response and investigations across the country.
According to Mr Peter Kinuthia, a security expert, drug traffickers have changed tactics from the use of vehicles like Toyota Probox and trucks, that can be easily flagged down by the police to high-end vehicles, which they know are rarely flagged down on major highways and other roads.
"It seems smugglers have turned to high-end vehicles and changed tactics to evade police dragnets. They know police rarely flag down expensive, sleek vehicles. The police need to also change their modus operandi to cope with the new trend," said Mr Kinuthia.
"Drug traffickers prefer the vehicles also because they help them blend with wealth and can be modified with hidden compartments for their drugs. Drug trafficking networks continue to exploit technology, international transport systems, financial channels and porous borders," he added.
Most of the high-end vehicles have in the recent past been intercepted while ferrying bhang and other drugs, including cocaine, heroin and bhang, with traffickers stashing the drugs in sealed compartments or disguising them among other goods.
Beyond private luxury vehicles, traffickers have also been using ambulances, hearses and sometimes government vehicles to evade detection.
A recent report released on November 11, 2024, by the National Crime Research Centre (NCRC), further revealed that the traffickers use a different range of vehicles to traffic drugs, among them luxury vehicles.
According to the report, traffickers utilise high-end vehicles like Land Cruisers, Prados and Range Rovers.
The report showed that sometimes buses, boats and even aircraft are also used by drug traffickers in Kenya.
"The traffickers also employ government vehicles, rental cars, motorcycles, ambulances, hearses, cargo trucks, ships and sometimes aircrafts, just to ensure the drugs get to desired destinations. They change the type of car they use according to different situations and environments to ensure that they adapt and are not easily noticed," reads part of the report.
A few days ago, police in Vihiga seized bhang worth more than Sh3.5 million in a Toyota Prado car reportedly headed to Nairobi.
In a similar incident a few months months ago, police led by the Timboroa Officer Commanding Station, intercepted a white Toyota Pado, that was transporting bhang on the Eldoret–Nakuru highway.
Acting on a tip-off, the officers mounted a roadblock at Timboroa Stage and shortly afterwards, the vehicle approached the checkpoint with three occupants on board.
However, upon spotting the police, the driver attempted to evade arrest by speeding off. But police shot the vehicle’s right-side tyres and deflated them, and the occupants fled on foot.
In another incident, on November 9, 2025, police officers from Samburu Police Station in Kwale, acting on a tip-off from members of the public, arrested a man who was trafficking narcotics estimated to be worth millions of shillings along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway, using a high-end SUV.
The officers sprang into action and intercepted the Mazda CX-5 near the DEVKI Steel plant in Kwale. They managed to arrest one occupant of the vehicle, as others bolted out once the SUV was flagged down by the police. Officers found sacks of bhang in the car’s boot.
Mazda CX5.
Photo credit: Pool
On September 23,2025, police in Suswa arrested two drug traffickers after intercepting a Nissan X-Trail ferrying nine sacks of bhang valued at millions of shillings.
The vehicle was flagged down at Suswa shopping centre before the occupants were arrested by police acting on a tip-off.
A year ago for instance, a Toyota Prado was intercepted while ferrying drugs believed to be Cocaine along the Moyale -Isiolo highway.
On July 1, 2025, police in Narok East intercepted a Toyota Prado that was ferrying bhang from Kisii to Nairobi, estimated to be valued at more than Sh10 million.
The officers from Ntulele police station intercepted the Toyota Prado on the Narok-Maai Mahiu highway.
"The driver defied police orders to stop, triggering a high-speed chase. The pursuit ended when the vehicle developed mechanical problems and was abandoned along the Nairegie Enkare feeder road. However, the two occupants escaped to a nearby maize plantation," said Narok Police boss Riko Ngare.
On October 24, 2024, a multi-agency team based at Kinna VCP in Garbatulla intercepted a Nissan X-Trail ferrying narcotics along the Isiolo-Modogashe highway.
Determined to evade the police dragnet, the driver defied orders to stop and sped off, triggering a chase that saw the vehicle immobilised half a kilometre away.
The two occupants managed to escape on foot, leaving behind the vehicle loaded with 44 bales of bhang, each weighing 5kilograms.
On March 18, 2024, a Toyota Prado was intercepted at Isebania in Migori ferrying bhang estimated to be worth Sh9 million.
These are just examples of many incidents where high-end vehicles have been intercepted ferrying bhang or other drugs to the market.
Some of the drug trafficking conduits in the country include the Nairobi -Mombasa highway, the Isiolo-Modogashe highway, Isiolo-Marsabit highway and the Eldoret-Nakuru-Nairobi highway.
