Bondo: A multi-agency team comprised of the National Authority Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) and the Kenya Revenue Authority has nabbed drugs and illicit liquor worth over Sh2.9 million in Bondo sub-county.
According to Kenya News Agency, the NACADA Head of Enforcement, Senior Superintendent Nicholas Kosgey, addressed the press, revealing that the multi-agency team, acting on a tip-off, raided the home of a notorious drug dealer and illicit trader in the Nyamonye market area within Bondo sub-county.
Kosgey disclosed that the raid at the homestead, business premises, and rental houses of Francis Odhiambo Ochieng yielded 4,600 sticks of cannabis sativa, 11 brooms of bhang, 8 cartons of supermatch cigarettes meant for export to Uganda and South Sudan, 118 cartons of Challenger spirits, 107 cartons of Simba Waragi spirits, and 12 cartons of dry gin liquor, all valued at Sh2.9 million. He noted that the confiscated bhang is yet to be weighed and subjected to analysis by the anti-narcotics units to determine the value.
The Police Superintendent also disclosed that four cash safes were recovered during the raid, with millions of shillings, believed to be proceeds of crime, stashed inside. 'The police are still checking the authenticity of the notes and coins to know exactly how much was in the safe before making communication to the public, but we believe the money is proceeds of crime,' he said.
Kosgey stated that two suspects, namely Francis Odhiambo and Everlyne Atieno Amungo, arrested during the raid, were currently being held at the Bondo police station, awaiting processing, after which they will be charged in court Monday. The NACADA head of enforcement described the raid as a breakthrough in the fight against drugs and illicit trade in the country after a similar exercise, which saw drugs worth Sh8 million being netted in Kisii county last week.
Kosgey said that the multi-agency team will equally conduct more raids around the country to ensure that the youth are protected from unscrupulous traders out to destroy their lives.