Police in Thika Sub County have recovered bhang worth Sh 8 million from Kiganjo estate.
The haul was nabbed after a partnership with the Nyumba Kumi initiative and the area residents on Tuesday evening.
The rolls of bhang were allegedly to be delivered within the area in raw form using expensive vehicles. The bhang is reportedly processed and stored to be sold to residents while some is transported to prisons like Thika Main prison and Industrial area in Nairobi.
The bhang is allegedly peddled through the prison wardens who purportedly work with the cartel to authorise the supply of the drugs in prisons for long-term serving prisoners.
According to the Thika Sub County Administration Police (AP) Superintendent Samuel Ombonya, the police received information from suspicious residents through their Nyumba Kumi leaders that there were people handling unknown substances in one of the residential houses.
Ombonya said that he received information at 10am and sent plain-clothes officers in an undercover leading them to apprehend one suspect who led them to the depot while others fled.
The superintendent said that they are still investigating to get to the bottom of the incident as according to their sources, there are numerous depots of the illegal substance in the area.
James Mwangi Anwari 25, was arrested after a whole day hunt by the AP officers and he admitted to being a peddler and user of the substance.
He said that he has been in the business for two years and blames the government for unemployment as he is a form four leaver yet he cannot get a job. This has forced him into the illegal business to avoid stealing and starving.
Mwangi said that he receives Sh 400 per day from his employer whom he knows as George ‘Kuruka’.
Ombonya hailed members of the public for embracing the Nyumba Kumi initiative and the community policing program in the area which led to the recovery of the bhang.
He said that his officers have launched investigations to apprehend the remaining peddlers and eliminate all the drug dens in the sub county.
The culprit is at the Thika Police station waiting to be arraigned in court once the police are through with investigations.