Police are now calling a woman behind a drugs den that was last week raided to surrender.
Nancy Indoveria Kigunzu popularly known as ‘Mathe wa Ngara’ is missing since police raided her narcotics den and arrested four mules on Tuesday, August 15.
Teams of detectives have been tracking her in vain.
“She switched off her mobile phones since then and can’t be traced in her usual hiding places. Let her surrender,” said an insider in the team looking for her.
Police also want the public to help in the search for the woman. When police raided a known drug den in Kariowa slums Ngara area, Nairobi County they hoped to get Nancy.
The place is popularly known as “Kwa Mathe wa Ngara ” (mum’s place) because of its popularity in terms of the supply of various narcotics and psychotropic substances.
‘Kwa Mathe wa Ngara’ is a known place, and is searchable online, unlike hundreds of other spots called ‘Kwa Mathe’, especially in informal settlements, the Ngara ‘Mathe’ appears to have more power, controls a larger swathe of the population, have more widespread influence.
Five years ago, K24 visited the sprawling ‘Kwa Mathe’ slums, filming men busy rolling marijuana blunts and revealing that, even little school-going boys were her clients.
To the consumers and mules of the narcotics, Nancy is a humble and caring woman who always understands their challenges. She comes from Vihiga but has set up a base in Ngara that now controls millions, police say.
A team of detectives from the Transitional Organized Crimes Unit backed by those from the Anti-Narcotics Unit and local ones had raided the den owned and run by Nancy but they did not find her.
Instead, they arrested her mules including three teenagers.
Read: At Least 3 Suspects Arrested, Bhang Valued at Sh13 Million Recovered in Ngara
Those arrested included 54-year-old Tersia Wanjiru who was said to be the head of the store where the narcotics were kept. And after police went public about the arrests and recoveries, those who know Nancy swamped social media saying the real “Mathe” had not been arrested.
And true to the public’s concerns, police have revealed they are still looking for the 46-year-old woman.
And like in the movie series Queen of the South, many Kenyans regarded Wanjiru as Teressa Mendza and Nancy as Camila Vargas. The suspects were found with 26 sacks of bhang, Sh13.4 million in cash, four cartons of Oris containing 200 pieces of cigarettes, one carton containing 200 pieces of High-class cigarettes, 173 packaged sweets and a carton of suspected weed cookies.
The cash was said to have been hidden under a bed. A team of detectives posing as buyers had earlier on visited the den and bought the narcotics and psychotropic substances and saw Nancy there.
But when a larger team arrived moments later they found her missing and only three workers including two minors present.
The three other suspects were Wednesday presented before a court at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport where the prosecution successfully asked for more time to hold them.
The court allowed police to detain them until August 21 when the case will be mentioned. The court ordered the Sh13.4 million that was recovered be kept at the Central Bank of Kenya.
The court ordered the suspects be taken for mental tests before they are brought back on Monday. According to police, Nancy has in the past been arrested and charged with trafficking of narcotics. She operates in Kariowa B slum within Ngara, Nairobi. Kariowa B is an informal Settlement occupying a road reserve along Kipande Road.
According to police, the area offers the drug dealers and Nancy a conducive operation base since she offers incentives to unemployed youth who provide security and act as watchers/informers in case of any police presence.
Nancy is well known among many security agencies in the country and especially in the city.
According to some officials, she is a powerful individual to the extent she can influence the transfer of officials who are seen as a stumbling block to her business. The bhang handled there originates from associates based in Isebania, Busia, Moyale and Ethiopia where upon receipt, she stores, packages and distributes to numerous other clients, at times the consignment is transported to other major towns like Machakos, Thika, Kiambu, Murang’a and Mombasa.
According to police, in June 2022 she was arrested with her associates and arraigned in Kahawa law courts where she was released after a plea- bargain and after paying a fine of Sh525,000.
And now the police want her to surrender for processing. Police have been mounting operations to tame drug trafficking and consumption in vain.
Most of the cannabis is produced locally while some is imported from Ethiopia and Tanzania.
In Kenya, cannabis remains the drug of choice amongst narcotic users.
Data from a national survey conducted in 2017 showed that at least one per cent of the country’s population aged between 15-65 years are current users of cannabis.
Cannabis has also permeated institutions of learning with current data showing that 7.5 per cent of high school students have ever used cannabis and 1.2 per cent amongst primary school pupils.
Further, reports on the increasing rate of illicit trafficking of cannabis and the resultant high number of seizures and arrests are of great concern.
Kenya in 2021 rejected the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendations on the use of cannabis in recognition of its abuse and potential health risks posed.
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