Escaping Traffickers Abandon 60 Bales of Bhang on Roadside in Nyandarua

A driver and his loader are on the run after abandoning 60 bales of bhang on the roadside in Ngorika area, Nyandarua County. 

The narcotics are valued about Sh3 million, police said. 

Police manning highway in Nakuru had earlier on Saturday said they had stopped a lorry whose driver refused to stop and sped off.

The same driver is believed to have stopped in Kirigono area, Ngorika village and offloaded the drugs wrapped in yellow nylon papers before escaping.

Locals spotted the cargo sprawled on the road and informed the local chief who called police.

The police arrived there and picked up the bales to their local station for processing.

The Nakuru team said efforts to trace the vehicle behind the drugs are ongoing.

Police believe the narcotics had originated the Kenya-Ethiopia border and were headed for Nairobi.

According to police, the drug trafficking cartel has put to test the stern measures adopted by anti-narcotics hawkshaws to paralyze the illegal trade in the country.

This is the latest such recovery to be made in a series that have happened in the recent past following heightened operations.

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 sub county in Isiolo.

They take the consignments to Eastleigh, Majengo and Mlango Kubwa for repackaging and distribution.

In the February 9, 2024 joint operation, 28 bales had initially been found stashed on the roof cabin of the lorry that ferried mattresses in guise, before a further thorough search revealed a false bottom reinforced with strong bolts and rails where another 104 bales were discovered.

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.