Garissa (KAAB TV) – Police in Kenya have arrested and detained a suspect and a vehicle that was found carrying 50 bags of contraband sugar in Garissa on Saturday. The suspect who had earlier escaped a dragnet in the area and abandoned his vehicle carrying the sugar was arrested hours after evading the police.
He had originated the Kenya-Somalia main border with the product when police intercepted him in Garissa town.
Kenyan Police say some of the sugar being consumed locally is smuggled from the main Kenya-Somalia border which affects the local production of the product and business in general.
Cases of illegal importation of contraband products are on the rise amid police operations to address the same.
Kenyan Police officers from the Endebess Police Station in Trans-Nzoia county intercepted a lorry and seized a substantial haul of 32 drums of ethanol last week. The operation unfolded following a tip-off regarding a lorry suspected of transporting ethanol. The officers set up an ambush along the Suam-Kitale road, successfully stopping the vehicle.
Upon escorting the truck back to the Endebess Police Station in Trans-Nzoia county, a search revealed that the ethanol was cleverly concealed beneath 25 bags of maize and 20 bags of animal feed. The driver and his loader were taken into custody pending arraignment, Kenyan police said.
The seized ethanol drums were secured at the station pending further action from Kenya Revenue Authority officials which saw them take over the product.
Officials say some of those involved in the business bribe their way to be able to pass through many security checks. Others use unauthorized routes to evade detection by security agencies.
Multi-agency teams are involved in the war against contraband goods.