Five traders were Tuesday arrested as the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) intensified the battle against the resurgence of plastic bags in Nakuru county.
It has emerged that barely a year after their use was banned in Kenya, the bags are back.
It is suspected they are smuggled from neighbouring countries.
The crackdown that caught traders along Salgaa-Sachangwan stretch on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway was coordinated by NEMA enforcement officers Daisy Mwangi and Brian Ochieng backed by police officers.
Mwangi said the culprits will be arraigned in court after investigations.
If found guilty, they could be fined between Sh2million and Sh4 million, get a jail term of between one and two years, or both.
“A majority of those arrested were using the plastics to package sugar cane which is sold to motorists and commuters along the busy highway. During crackdowns, a well-networked cartel always alerted suspects targeted by the environmental management agency,” said Mwangi.
Most of those who have been arrested following the ban are small-scale traders.