A woman is facing drug trafficking charges after she was allegedly caught attempting to sneak 50 rolls of bhang into the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi.
The suspect was arrested on Wednesday, October 8, after court security officers intercepted her during a routine search at the entrance.
She was presented before Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina on Thursday, where she denied the charges of trafficking.
According to court documents, she was found carrying a black paper bag containing rolls of cannabis, where she was immediately detained and handed over to anti-narcotics officers for further interrogation.
In her defense, she told the court that she picked up the black paper bag at the court gate, thinking it contained money.
She maintained that she had no knowledge of the contents and insisted she was being unfairly accused.
''I picked those things while entering the court gates, not knowing that it was bhang. Could I have known, I wouldn't have bothered to pick them. I mistook them for money, and despite explaining this to the officers, they refused to believe me,'' she told the court.
She further pleaded for leniency, telling the court that she had lost contact with her special needs child following her arrest and had no one to care for the minor.
Magistrate Onyina directed that the case be transferred to the JKIA Law Courts, which handles trafficking-related offences, and ordered that she remain in remand until her bail ruling on October 14.
''You have a right to legal representation. I therefore direct that the matter be heard at the JKIA Law Courts on October 13, 2025,'' ruled Onyina.
In March this year, a 55-year-old woman was sentenced to 50 years in prison by a Busia law court after the prosecution proved a narcotics trafficking case against her involving 3.9 kg of heroin.
The court ordered her to pay a fine of Ksh50 million to avoid a prison term. This followed her arrest on March 10, 2023, at Busia One Border Point, where she was found in possession of 3.9 kg of heroin with a street value of Ksh11.8 million.
