Officials seize smuggled beer, bhang in Turkana

Authorities have seized smuggled beer, bhang, sugar and cigarettes in Turkana County at different border points.

Turkana County Commissioner Muthama Wambua on Thursday said a multi-agency team that included Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officials and police officers impounded a lorry loaded with 400 crates of beer from Uganda after a tip-off.

Mr Wambua said that the driver of the lorry was transporting the beer to Kakuma from Uganda using fake KRA documents.

"The driver of the lorry had fake KRA documents claiming that he had paid Sh758,200 in taxes.

“He was taken to Lodwar Law Courts and charged with tax evasion and faking documents,” the county commissioner told journalists in his Lodwar office.

He added that 200,000 pieces of cigarettes were also smuggled into the country from South Sudan through the Nadapal border point.

Detectives also impounded bhang from Ethiopia that was being transported to Turkana through the Todonyang border.

Mr Wambua said that a Probox with 20 bags of sugar was also impounded after smugglers changed tact by avoiding to use lorries.

"We have heightened security patrols and surveillance at our expansive border to ensure that we zero in on the smuggling network and completely eliminate it through swift arrests," he said.

Last month, the Kenya Dairy Board seized several kilograms of powdered milk that had been smuggled into the country from the United Arabs Emirates and was already being sold to consumers in Lodwar and Kakuma towns.

Eight suspects were arrested during the crackdown on smuggled milk.