Police raid dens, destroy 1,900 litres of illicit brew
A concerted initiative by the police, local authorities and Kiambu county enforcement officers to use drones in offering surveillance in areas suspected to be brewers and drug peddlers’ dens in Gatundu North sub-county has started bearing fruits.
Yesterday, the team, led by area Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) Buxton Mayabi and sub-county Police Commander Ellen Wanjik discarded 1,900 liters of kangara and destroyed a boiler and other accompaniments along the banks of steep River Chania and Thika-Gatundu border.
Mayabi expressed optimism that technology use in the war on illicit brews will significantly contribute to a reduction in alcohol and substance abuse in the notorious region.
Steepest parts
He noted that the adoption of drones will also help unearth some of the brewing dens that were difficult to locate.
They include bushy riverbanks, caves where the brewers have taken their manufacturing business and remote watercourses that security officials previously had difficulty accessing.
Use of technology, he said, will also help police identify the physical appearances of those found brewing, which will help nab the criminals.
“We will continue to fight the brewers until they develop exhaustion. We are ready to camp at the river, use any available means to destroy their illegal businesses,” he said.
Illicit brews manufacturers are now doing the business at the most interior parts of River Chania after their home dens were raided by law enforcement officers and destroyed the illicit liquor.
To get to the manufacturing dens, one is forced to go down the bushy hills of Makwa, over 400 meters from farmed land before getting to the steepest parts of River Chania.
At times, one is compelled to resort to using ropes to dive into the deep ends of the swollen river.
At the river, brewers have changed tact and are now producing the killer drinks inside caves.
The DCC has called on the government to procure drones and train officers who will be operating them saying that they are currently relying on drones from the National Authority for Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse.
He regretted that the brewers were taking advantage of stalled judicial activities occasioned by Covid-19 to heighten their illegal businesses.
