Puzzle of Murang'a bhang farmer with Sh12m in lowest sale

Police in Murang’a have launched a manhunt for a man they claim is a large-scale bhang farmer in Tanzania and after harvest, sells it in Central region.

This follows Saturday’s sting raid in his palatial home in Ithanga where officers arrested seven of his workers who were allegedly processing for the market bhang worth Sh1.9 million.

Those arrested in the 180 kilograms bhang syndicate were three women and four men aged between 22 and 32 years, all from Kiambu County.

Ithanga/Kakuzi Sub County police boss John Ogolla said “we are in possession of shared intelligence from our International police counterparts that one Morris Ndung’u, who is a native of Murang’a County farms bhang illegally in Tanzania and ships it to this county for wholesaling where he is the chief supplier in at least five counties.”

The police boss said “the suspect said is profiled as a plantation farmer with several pieces of land where he grows bhang for the Kenyan black market.”

Mr Ogolla said the suspect is behind thousands of illegal jobs to youths in Nairobi, Murang’a, Kirinyaga, Embu and Kiambu counties “where he recruits them as commissioned peddlers, processing and packing.”

He said police dragnet has been on the suspect for the past four months and “he has been escaping in a way that details access to a network that tips him about our intention to arrest him…but he should rest assured that we will finally get him where he belongs and that is jail.”

Murang’a County Commissioner Karuku Ngumo said he is seeking advice from Attorney General’s office about how to invoke the Prevention of Organised Crime Act against the suspect so as to seize his palatial home, motor vehicles and other properties in real estate as proceeds of crime.

“We have seized his sale register for the past one year and it indicates that he has been doing a very lucrative business. The lowest sale entered in the book is for Sh12 million. The sale register incriminates him running a network of black market. We are also investigating some of the expenses recorded under protection vote head to know who among our officers has been tipping him with police intelligence,” Mr Ngumo said.

The Commissioner said phones confiscated from the seven suspects in custody as well as two others recovered from the chief suspect’s palatial home have been forwarded to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for forensic analysis so as to unearth all the contacts in the syndicate.

“We are going to escalate these investigations to include our counterparts in Tanzania. We want to demolish this syndicate right from its roots and we are pushing through diplomatic channels to have his bhang plantations in Tanzania banned and he be blacklisted from hiding in that country while from our end we will roll out a cleansing drive against his enterprise,” Mr Ngumo said.

Ithanga/Kakuzi Deputy County Commissioner Angela Makau said the area has become a dumping site for illicit brews and narcotics, saying the issue has become a cancer that must be arrested before it gets fatal.

“Many children are falling into the trap of substance abuse as well as families that are going to the dogs owing to heads sinking into alcoholism. The government will not sit idle as the future and financial wellbeing of the region is threatened. All involved in these illicit syndicates must know we are not resting until we defeat them,” she said.

She said police officers feel depressed when they raid brews and narcotics dens and find young children recruited as workers.

“Security is composed of grandparents, parents; brothers and sisters….All of us serving in security come from families. We are not happy to send these children to jail. But again, we have a duty to enforce the rule of law. We are making it a priority to be going for the kingpins who recruit these children into criminal enterprise and in that duty, we will have no mercy,” she said.

Ms Makau said the sub county being the newest in Murang’a county is fast overcoming its teething problems and “we are proud to have been the tops now in a sting operation that has nabbed the highest ever bhang consignment.”

The unit is seven months old and made Murang’a County to have nine administrative Sub Countiees, others being Gatanga, Kigumo, Kandara, Maragua, Kiharu, Kahuro, Mathioya and Kangema. Ithanga/Kakuzi and Kahuro are the only ones that are not constituencies.

Central region County Commissioner Ms Esther Maina congratulated the new sub county “for making it known to us that dedication to duty can win our country pride.”

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