Brewers swang across the river to evade arrest
The Mountain Journal
Murang’a police came face to face with individuals who have established illicit brewing dens along the banks of Chania river.
The law enforcers had a difficult time navigating through the terrains to access the brewing dens where they found the brewers in the act before they fled through the thickets.
The contingent led by Murang’a County Commissioner Mr Patrick Mukuria and Police Commander Mr David Mathiu destroyed more than 3,500 litres of illicit liquor alongside the raw materials during the four hours operation.
Guided by a drone the security team sneaked in through the coffee plantations and hatched a search at the river bordering the counties of Murang’a and Kiambu.
The gang left behind the equipment used in the production of the brews destined for sale in the towns of Kenol, Thika, Nairobi, which the police destroyed among them motor vehicle radiators used for cooling systems.
Mukuria and Mathiu issued a warning that those in the illegal business that the banks of Chania river will be monitored by the police round the clock.
” We moved in the dens following a tip off by the public and we have destroyed kangara and chang’aa as well as equipment used in the preparation,” said Mukuria.
Mathiu said his team has been assigned the role of monitoring all areas to ensure those who have perfected the illicit brews and other substances are arrested.
“In the past two weeks, through the cooperation of the public we have managed to intercept hundreds of crates and cartons of contrands in the market,” said Mathiu.
He added that also in custody are rolls of KRA stamps that were found in a store at Kambiti market while the suspects nabbed have been arraigned in court.
Residents in Gatanga, attributed high incidents of manufacture of illicit brews along the Chania river due to thickets in Kiambu side.
Peter Ndirangu said illicit brews will remain a challenge owing to the undeveloped land in Gatundu North constituency.
He said there is need for President William Ruto and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua administration to order those with undeveloped land along Chania river to lease them for other purposes.
” This is an industry minting millions of shillings and locals fear speaking about the individuals as they have been buying their freedom over the years,” said Ndirangu.
Five years ago, the security team under the command of former County Commissioner John Elungata used explosives to destroy the illicit brews dens before the gang returned to operations.
