Three male suspects who were distilling illegal brew hid 75 liters of it in a church compound in Murang'a to avoid detection were arrested on Monday.
Officers found the suspects at Gikindu village while busy at work distilling illicit liquor.
The officers, who were acting on a tip-off from several members of the church had complained about the illegal trade within the precincts of the church.
Since police officers rarely search church compounds the brewers used the church premises for their storage.
According to area police Cleophas Juma, officers found the five suspects in Gikindu village while busy distilling illegal liquor.
Two suspects from the group that were tasked with transporting the finished product to the nearby Presbyterian Church of East Africa managed to get away.
“We managed to arrest the distillers as well as the narcotics dealers. But the transport team escaped. We have the suspects at Maragua Police Station, and they will be charged accordingly,” he mentioned.
Mr. Juma also noted that the oldest member of the said ring was a 32-year-old man.
Mr. Juma urged local youths to reach out to the government for help with starting small businesses rather than wasting their lives and those of their fellow age mates.
Mr Juma added that Murang’a County security teams were at war with illegal distillers, drug dealers and bar owners who flout Covid-19 protocols.
Earlier, police raided Gikomora village and arrested two suspects in possession of 700 grams of bhang hidden in school bags.
The suspects were also said to be in school uniform despite them not being students.
“Their purpose was to pass as secondary school children to avoid detection, but our intelligence was able to identify them and gave the tip to us. We were able to pick them up and they will be charged in court,” he mentioned.
