Two police officers together with a businesswoman have been arrested along Mumias-Bungoma road at Mayoni junction while transporting 10 sacks of outlawed alcoholic drinks. The three are being held at Mumias police station. The businesswoman who runs a drinking joint in Kakamega town is said to be married to a senior police officer in the region and it’s alleged that she uses police vehicles to transport the illegal drink from Uganda every weekend.
The OCPD Mumias West Sub County Peter Kattam revealed that they were informed by their colleagues in Busia County that a police car was transporting the contraband goods from Busia en route to Kakamega and mounted a roadblock at Mayoni along Mumias – Bungoma road.
“My officers flagged down the police car and upon inspection, we found out that it had 10 sacks containing 6000 sachets of alcohol namely Simba Waragi and Coffee spirits with a street value of sh200,000,” revealed Kattam.
Kattam explained that police officers from Busia police station were notified by members of the public of that a police car was being loaded with illegal alcoholic drinks at the Busia border and they immediately took action by sending police officers in civilians to find out.
The junior officer who was sent confirmed that police officers were loading sacks into the car. He later discovered that it was alcohol packed in sachets of 100ml before the police car left the scene at high speed.
According to intelligent reports, notorious routes used in Busia for smuggling of mainly sugar and illegal alcoholic drinks are Alupe, Bulanda, Sofia, Marachi, Mayenje, Osieko in Lake Victoria and Mulwanda.
Last year, residents of Busia protested that police officers were aiding and abetting the outlawed business following the rampant killing of cyclists along the narrow highway from Busia town.
An officer from the National Intelligent Service who sought anonymity confided to the press that the police car is normally assigned such duties without the knowledge of the officer authorized to use the car as on weekends, he is normally not on duty and the two police officers are always providing security and they do it every weekend under the order of their boss who has friends in Busia. The officers who provide security are normally paid Sh5000 per trip,” he said.
