Owner of home where counterfeit drinks were found sought
Ndaragwa Deputy County Commissioner Walter Ngaira (Left) and Nyandarua County Police Commander Omar Arero display some of the alcoholic beverage brands that were seized by a multi-agency team at Murereshwa village in Kianjogu location, Nyandarua County during a raid at a counterfeit liquor distillery on July, 20, 2022
A multi-agency team in Nyandarua County has confiscated several alcoholic beverage brands in a raid at a counterfeit liquor distillery.
The raid was carried out by a team of officers from agencies including the Kenya Bureau of Standards, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and the Kenya Revenue Authority.
Several alcoholic beverages bearing the names of known brands were discovered at the home of an unlicensed manufacturer in Murereshwa village, Kianjogu location, Nyandarua North sub-county. The drinks were made there and distributed to counties in the Mt Kenya region.
Among the items seized were 800 litres of suspected ethanol, 375 bottles of Santana Ice, 75 bottles of Mara Ice, 262 bottles of Diamond Ice, 175 bottles of Darling Ice, 155 bottles of Chrome Vodka, 45 bottles of Kibao Vodka and 140 bottles Smart Vodka.
One and a half rolls of fake KRA stamps, empty bottles, unmarked bottle tops, seals and bunches of alcoholic drinks stickers of various brands including Smart, Spike and Shujaa were also confiscated.
Nyandarua Police Commander Omar Arero said police were looking for the main suspect, a woman.
A multiagency team display some of the alcoholic beverage brands that were seized at Murereshwa village in Kianjogu location, Nyandarua County during a raid at a counterfeit liquor distillery
“We have her details because she had earlier been forced to flee from Rumuruti town in neighbouring Laikipia County for doing illicit business. Therefore, it is a matter of time before we arrest her,” Mr Arero said.
He added that a capping machine used for fixing bottle tops, many used and unused metallic bottle tops, and 728 plastic bottle tops with seals were also found at the suspect’s home.
“We believe that after counterfeiting, the distillery was supplying the illicit liquor to various major towns within Nyandarua, Laikipia and other counties in the Mt Kenya region,” he noted.
Nyandarua North Deputy County Commissioner Walter Ngaira said the raid followed a tip-off from members of the public.
"I want to thank the people for giving us intelligence that has enabled us to nab people in the process of producing and packaging illicit liquor here. We shall start a serious operation of similar nature to ensure that all illicit liquor makers and packagers are nabbed," said Mr Ngaira.
