Police arrest 24 during raid at illegal alcohol distillery in Athi River
A multi-agency security team in Athi River, Machakos County on Thursday raided an unlicensed distillery and arrested at least 24 suspects believed to be behind the business.
The raid was carried out by a team of officers from agencies including the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and local security team.
During the sting operation at Kingoni warehouses, the team which arrived at around 3pm on Wednesday were unable to access the facility after the workers locked themselves inside and allegedly started destroying the evidence.
A heap of broken glass bottles at a warehouse in Kongoni 1, in Athi River on August 25, 2022.
According to an official from KRA who was at the scene, they could not break into the premises but had to follow the law.
“They were destroying the factory overnight and the evidence. We will charge them with illegal production of alcoholic products. Our team laid siege overnight till they managed to get in at 4am in the morning,” said the official who sought anonymity.
When the Nation.Africa team visited the area on Thursday morning, the team from KRA was documenting the evidence. In one of the warehouses, there was nothing but broken glass scattered all over.
Employees of a warehouse at Kongoni 1 warehouse in Athi River pull away a plastic covering to plastic drums believed to be used in the manufacture of illegal liquor .
KRA officers who were summoned to verify whether the stamps were genuine could not give an immediate answer, saying some of them bore features similar to those of genuine ones but they promised to conduct further investigations.
The KRA official said the arrests and recovery of the goods was a major breakthrough in the fight against counterfeits, adding that more raids will be conducted in the area.
The suspects are expected in court soon.
