Exposed: New tricks peddlers are adopting to sneak Marijuana to Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 14- The proliferation of illegal drugs in the country has been on the rise and as detectives devise ways to curb the trend, criminals have equally come up with new ways of covering up their activities.

This is even more in how drug traffickers transport say Marijuana, whose main source is Ethiopia, through the border town of Moyale.

Despite being illegal and attracting hefty punishment, Marijuana has a ready market in the country and more so among the youth.

While in the past police have been accused of turning a blind eye on such activities, adoption of a multi-agency approach has made it hard for them, but they won’t give up that easily.

On November 11, the multi-agency team led by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives impounded two trucks, while inside they were empty, they had tonnes of Marijuana stashed inside compartments. The bhang had a street value of Sh32.9 million.

This was just a few weeks after another truck in the guise of carrying water tanks was found with 165kgs of Marijuana, which detectives say has a street value of Sh5 million.

How are they doing it?

Deputy Director Anti-Narcotics Unit Janet Shako spoke to Shahidi News, about the new mode of operation by the criminals.

She said criminals are now using water bowsers, fuel tankers, stuffing drugs in fuel tanks, dashboards, spare wheels and most recently creating additional compartments under buses and semi-trucks to conceal narcotics.

During the November 11 operation, Shako said bhang weighing 1 tonne was found concealed in compartments.

Shako said investigations have revealed that proceeds of sale of such drugs have a direct link with funding of terror activities within the region.

“Previously, piracy used to be a major source of funds for terror groups and since it was dismantled, they have turned to drug trafficking to fund their illegal activities,” she said.

Five suspects including a woman said to be the owner of the recovered bhang are set to be charged on Monday.

Isiolo-Moyale route is the preferred route for criminals trafficking illegal narcotics from Ethiopia.