Bhang selling couple arrested in Muranga

A couple aged 50 years was arrested in Murang’a for being in possession of five stones of bhang.

The two were arrested on Tuesday evening at their home at Githunguri village in Iyego location, Kangema Constituency.

The arrest comes after one week of intensive surveillance on the couple following information provided by the public to the newly established Quick Response Team of police known as QRT.

According to Murang’a County Commissioner Kula Hache, the couple, Peter Muturi and his wife Jane Wambui, has been selling the narcotics for a very long time.

The two are said to have been arrested a couple of times, charged in court and fined but have never abandoned the illegal business.

Muturi is said to have been arrested five times and his wife once, but every time the two were released after paying a fine of Ksh 20,000.

Kula Hache said that after the tip-off by members of the public, the officers who had been surveilling the home for the last one week came in a Nissan matatu dressed in plain clothes because the couple is said to have placed spies on the road to notify them whenever a GK vehicle was spotted.

The bhang was recovered after the police ransacked the house and found it stashed in a gunny bag hidden inside a jerry can.

The county commissioner thanked the public for the tip off and urged them not to shy away from sharing any information with the police so as to get rid of peddlers from the society and improve security to peace loving citizens.

The couple is said to have been selling drugs to students at the nearby Michuki Technical Training Institute, which is less than a kilometer from their home.

There has been an intensive anti-drug campaign in recent months following a directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The anti-drug war has led to the arrest of several drug peddlers as well as the destruction of illicit brews.

Two weeks ago, Anti-narcotic officers along Muhoroni- Londiani highway arrested two men with more than 300 kilograms of bhang heading to Nairobi.

In May 2015, the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) said it had handed over a list of all suspected drug barons to the government.

NACADA chairman John Mututho said the list consisted of 1,000 people suspected to be involved in drug trafficking and illicit brew.