A court sentenced three suspects to 25 years in jail for drug trafficking in Nairobi’s Utawala area.
The High Court of Kenya in Makadara on March 18, 2026 upheld the convictions and the sentences of Stephen Sifuna Wekesa, Reuben Kioko Kimanthi and Elizabeth Wanjiku, bhang courier and store keepers respectively, who had filed for an appeal to review the subordinate court conviction and judgment at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Law Courts for their cases relating to Trafficking in narcotic drugs.
Prior, Wekesa and Kimathi were both sentenced to 25 years and pay a fine Sh50 million each in default one year in prison while Elizabeth was sentenced to serve 13 and a half years and pay a fine of Sh50 million in default one year in Prison.
The default sentences are to be served concurrently.
Similarly, on April 15, 2026 at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Law Courts, Benjamin Wafula Shubasha, a bhang trafficker based in Isebania, Migori County appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate (SPM) Njeri Thuku for his sentence hearing on charges of Trafficking in Narcotics.
He was sentenced to serve 25 years and pay a fine of Sh50 million in default one year in prison.
On Wednesday April 26, 2023 within Mihango Immaculate area, Nairobi County, Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU) officers intercepted Shubasha within Utawala, Nairobi County alongside Wekesa, Kimanthi and Elizabeth, bhang courier and store keepers respectively while smuggling and storing t24 gunny bags of bhang weighing 871.8 kilograms, with a street value of Sh26 million.
They were aboard white two Toyota Probox motor vehicles. Officials said the sentence is a win in the war on drug trafficking and consumption.
Authorities said they have laid ground for sustained war on the menace and boasted those nabbed will be convicted and fined.
Officials say the anti-narcotics unit’s capacity had been expanded from 200 to 700 officers and equipped with modern surveillance, intelligence, forensic, and financial investigation tools to target high-level drug traffickers and illicit alcohol networks.
President William said asset tracing, seizure, and forfeiture would feature prominently in narcotics and illicit alcohol investigations, with recovered assets redirected toward rehabilitation, prevention, and treatment programmes.
Ruto warned that any government official or security officer found colluding with traffickers would be prosecuted and dismissed from service.
Ruto, in his New Year address delivered from Eldoret State Lodge on December 31, declared alcohol and drug abuse a national emergency that threatens public health, national security, productivity, and the social fabric of the country.
He noted alarming statistics showing that one in six Kenyans aged 15-65 uses at least one substance of abuse, with over 4.7 million people affected, and that initiation into harmful use often begins in the teenage years.
“This crisis demands decisive national action,” Ruto said, unveiling a comprehensive government strategy to confront the menace through enforcement, prevention, and multi-agency cooperation.
Authorities have in the past three months mounted operations targeting drugs and alcohol across the country.
Several suspects were arrested and arraigned while tones of drugs as well as alcohol were destroyed.
All police officers were ordered to be involved in the operations.
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