Authorities seize illicit brews in Kiambu
National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) and local administrators in Kiambu on Friday poured 420 litres of Chang’aaa worth over Sh 500,000 at a village brewing plant.
The law enforcers invaded the local brews at Mugutha and Gathage villages at the boundary between Juja and Gatundu South Constituencies in Kiambu County.
The impromptu raid also saw destruction of over 4,000 liters of 'Kangara' and other illicit brew manufacturing ingredients.
The outlawed substances that were being mass-produced at night were inside several drums and over 50 jerricans.
Three people among them the owner of the den and his two employees were arrested during the crackdown and will be arraigned in court on Monday. 
Authorities, using a tip-off from a member of the public also managed to impound two motorbikes believed to have been waiting to transport illicit brews to different destinations within the county.
According to Gatundu South Deputy County Commissioner Stanley Kamande, the extra-large illicit brew manufacturing den has been the main supplier of the outlawed liquor in the entire Gatundu South Constituency.
He singled out Kimunyu, Wamuguthuko, Gathage and Kiamwangi as the most notorious villages affected by increased uptake of outlawed substances.
Kamande said that the criminals in the illegal business have upgraded their operations and have been using technology to speed up their industrialized activities.
“The brewers have upgraded their operations. They are now using motor vehicle radiators to cool vapour in the manufacturing process. It’s sad!” he said.
Central region Nacada manager Amos Warui who also participated in the raid said that they ambushed the distillery on Thursday late night.
Being the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Warui termed the successful raid as a milestone that will suppress illicit brew consumption in the entire county.
He thanked members of the public, police and chiefs for collaborating in efforts to weed out the menace that not only affect the brewers but the community and society at large.
“We have been engaging with the judiciary to help us, in their judgments to have stiffer penalties to discourage the vice that is destroying our generation,” he said.
Consumption of illicit brews, according to the World Health Organization leads to addiction and is therefore a disease.
WHO in 2017 reported that consumption of illicit brews affects the gastro-intestinal system, central nervous system, cardiovascular system, the reproductive system and the skin
