Marsabit police impound bhang worth Sh1.5m
Bhang that was impounded by police in Marsabit on August 7, 2022.
Police in Marsabit on Sunday seized a consignment of bhang weighing 50kg being ferried in a private car at the Butiye area, Moyale Sub-County.
The narcotics, with a street value of Sh1.5 million, were impounded in a saloon car at 11.30 am, according to Marsabit county police commander Robinson Mboloi.
“We’ve impounded 50 stones of bhang this mid-morning during one of the routine search by our officers at a roadblock,” Mr Mboloi said.
The driver of the vehicle tried to make his way through the Moyale police roadblock by making a U-turn when the police officers tried to flag him down.
The officers gave chase, forcing the driver to abandon the vehicle leaving behind his turn boy, an Ethiopian national, who was arrested.
Mr Mboloi said when police officers searched the vehicle they found make-shift compartments that contained 50 stones of bhang each weighing one kilo.
It is believed that the consignment was being ferried to other parts of the country via the Moyale-Isiolo highway.
The incident comes barely three weeks after the police in the region seized 64 bags of bhang weighing 2,394.7kg and worth Sh45 million in the Dambalafachana area.
The driver of a lorry was intercepted on one of the subsidiary roads in the area in Moyale sub-county.
Police said they were treating the recent incidents as isolated cases following the prolonged lull after several arrests were made last year along the highway.
Mr Mboloi asserted that they were on high alert to ensure that no narcotics gain entry into the country through the porous borders.
In the Dambalafachana incident, no arrests were made as the driver of the lorry, that was believed to be Marsabit-bound, fled.
The incident also comes against a backdrop of passionate appeals by local leaders to the youth to shun drug and substance abuse during the August 9 polls.
Marsabit Governor’s wife, Rukia Warre Ali, on Friday advised the youth against using drugs as she urged the youth in the county to stay away from drug and substance abuse to be able to exercise their democratic right on Tuesday and elect good leaders who would advance their interests.
Similar appeals were made by Marsabit Women Advocacy and Development Organization (MWADO) CEO Nurria Golloh, who pointed out that drugs and substance abuse were likely to trigger violence on election day.
Marsabit county governor Mohamud Ali last week, while outlining his policies and manifesto for his re-election bid, pledged to construct two rehabilitation centres across the county should he get re-elected.
Several organizations including NACADA have also expressed concerns over drug addiction in the county and how it was rapidly becoming a tragedy.
