A police officer was shot and killed in an ambush by gunmen who were trafficking drugs in the Kulamawe area, Isiolo County.
Constable Wilson Ndurya Changawa, 45 was among a group of police officers who were on Friday September 19 evening pursuing the gang when he was shot and killed, police said.
Police said a team of police was patrolling in Dima Ado area when they were informed there were aliens and bhang that was being ferried towards Kulamawe area and was to cross the River Ewaso Nyiro for onward trafficking to other places.
The team then followed footprints up to the Ewaso Nyiro River banks when they were ambushed by attackers suspected to be Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) members.
A fierce exchange of fire ensued as the attackers were many and heavily armed. They shot and fatally injured Changawa in the neck. This forced the other officers to retreat and carry the body of the colleague back to the local mortuary.
It is not clear how many the gunmen were and where they vanished with their drugs.
The latest incident shows the gangs are getting emboldened on the main route from Ethiopia which they use in trafficking their drugs and aliens who are mostly on transit.
The region had been facing insecurity challenges ranging from cattle rustling, human smuggling, drug trafficking, armed robberies and those targeting gold mining sites.
An operation which targets Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) hideouts in the area has recovered several items including weapons and ammunition, walkie talkies, camera stands, a solar panel, a generator, marijuana, among other things believed to be used by the militia in carrying out their illegal activities.
The operation started on February 3.
Police said the group has taken advantage of close family and cultural ties between the Borana of Kenya and Oromo of Ethiopia to infiltrate and hide amongst the population and continue committing atrocities causing untold suffering.
The operation was launched after both Kenya and Ethiopia accused the OLA of committing crimes in the area.
OLA is an armed opposition group active in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia.
The OLA consists primarily of former armed members of the pre-peace deal with Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) who refused to disarm out of skepticism of the deal, and former youth protestors who grew disillusioned with nonviolent resistance
Police said the high-level operation will target criminals conducting illegal operations that pose a serious threat to Kenyan national security.
Most of such narcotics originate from Ethiopia where they are packaged for the market in Nairobi and other major towns.
Police say the traffickers use the porous Kenya-Ethiopia border to get their illegal consignment into the country.
The border town of Moyale in northern Kenya is an entry point for large hauls of bhang widely grown in southern Ethiopia.
Once the bhang leaves Shashamane, it heads down south to the border points of Moyale, Sololo, Corolla, Uran and Dukana. Others use Mandera, Wajir, Garissa route.
The other route runs from Funannyata in Sololo, Marsabit county, to the Yamicha plains of Merti subcounty in Isiolo.
They take the consignments to Eastleigh, Majengo and Mlango Kubwa for repackaging and distribution.
Police have mounted an operation targeting the business seizing dozens of bales valued at millions of shillings.
Police and anti-drugs authorities are concerned over the increasing seizures of shashamane.
The drug, which originates in Ethiopia, is becoming popular locally and has been on the market for a few years.
Officials say an increase in the use of shashamane is a major challenge in fighting substance abuse.
The drug is boiled in a pot and smoked like shisha, or rolled into joints.
Some addicts mix the drug with mustard seed oil and cannabis before rolling it in joints.
The smoke can affect people as far as four metres away.
Traffickers often conceal it in sacks of rice and sugar.
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