Police intercept contraband ethanol worth Ksh6M in Kapenguria

By , K24 Digital
On Tue, 13 Dec, 2022 17:40 | < 1 min read
Kapenguria police officers on Monday, December 12 intercepted a consignment of 250 litres of ethanol worth Ksh6 million on Kacheliba-Makutano road. PHOTO/Courtesy

Kapenguria police officers on Monday, December 12 intercepted a consignment of 250 litres of ethanol worth Ksh6 million on Kacheliba-Makutano road.

In a statement, police said the consignment is suspected to have been smuggled into the country.

"The successful seizure and subsequent arrest of one male adult is attributed to the collaboration between NPS and Kenya Revenue Authority in the ongoing countrywide crackdown on contraband goods and unscrupulous tax evasion schemes," police said.

Police and KRA have been carrying out nationwide crackdowns on contraband goods.

Police in Molo

In September, police in Molo, Nakuru County, arrested a man who was found in possession of over 30,000 counterfeit KRA excise stamps and hundreds of litres of ethanol.

According to police detectives, James Nderitu who is based in Elburgon had converted his sawmill to a liquor manufacturing plant, following the countrywide ban on logging imposed by the government.

"In a well-coordinated operation conducted by the Molo security team, the sleuths sneaked into the sawmill in unmarked vehicles posing as potato farmers and busted three workers who were busy packaging the liquor ready for the market," police said in a statement.

His three employees namely Fredrick Kiprotich, Joram Choge and Langat Kipng’etich were also arrested during the raid.

"Hundreds of counterfeited bottles affixed with fake KRA stamps were recovered during the raid," police added.

Among the seized bottles and fake liquor labels including those of popular brands such as Tripple Ace, Kibao, and Konyagi.

Also nabbed was an alcohometer, a measuring tube, and assorted synthetic flavours among other paraphernalia used in liquor production.

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