Detectives drawn from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Wednesday, March 15, raided a distillery that had been set up in a residential area.
According to the DCI, the Kenyan had set up his illegal business dealing with alcoholic drinks in Keongo Village within Kericho County.
During the raid, DCI found the owner of the distillery was in possession of counterfeit alcoholic products worth Ksh22.2 million.
“The makeshift distillery was distilling and packaging counterfeit alcoholic products and was immediately shut down during the raid,” a statement from DCI read in part.
The security agency further revealed that the owner of the distillery specialised in packaging fast-moving and cheap spirits.
“During the raid, over seven types of counterfeit cheap wines and popular vodka spirits were seized,” the DCI statement revealed further.
Detectives from DCI further revealed that due to the counterfeits, the country lost Ksh12.2 million in levies.
“Items recovered during the raid included rolls of counterfeit levy stamps, drums full of ethanol, mixing buckets, assorted bottle tops and counterfeited stickers of various distillers,” DCI stated.
The owner of the distillery, however, got wind of the impending raid and escaped before the sleuths arrived at his house.
“The owner of the premises immediately went into hiding and efforts to trace him are currently ongoing.
“Meanwhile, a seizure notice has been issued and all the recovered exhibits kept in custody,” the Agency updated the public on the progress of the case.
The raid came against the backdrop of a renewed government effort to bring an end to illicit brews
On January 26, 2023, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua ordered an alcohol crackdown in the Mt Kenya region by ordering only one bar and restaurant per town.
"We shall not accept a situation where youths are being killed or become unproductive because of consumption of illicit alcohol.
“The administrators must eradicate alcoholism and drug abuse. We will not negotiate on this unfortunate matter,” the DP vowed.
