Police officers, on Tuesday, May 23, seized more than 60 bags of contaminated sugar and arrested the shopkeeper accused of being part of the cartel that illegally released the product.
Detectives acted on a tip-off, after a consumer approached patrolling police and reported the presence of foreign pellets in half a kilo of sugar, bought from the shop in Riverside, Nairobi.
“On 23/05/2023 at around 1 pm, Police on patrol received information from a member of public who found pellets which she suspected to be poisonous substance,” read part of the police report.
Police officers responded immediately, arrested the shopkeeper and an accomplice and recovered assorted sugar brands, including 48kg of sugar packed in a 50 kg Brazilian bag; 40 pieces of 1 kg of other branded sugar.
The main suspect also led the officers to a wholesale where they seized more items, including 60 bags of 50kg each, bearing different brands, including Kakira sugar, Indian brown sugar, and Diamond sugar bag.
On Sunday, May 21, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrested one of the key suspects in the contaminated sugar saga at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).
According to a police report released on Sunday, May 21, the officers, in collaboration with customs officers, arrested the suspect, who had flown into the country from Dubai.
Customs officers were alarmed because of a departure prohibition issued against the suspect and other Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) officials.
On Wednesday, May 17, Ruto's Chief of Staff, Felix Koskei, revealed that contaminated sugar was intercepted by DCI officers while being transported from a godown in Thika. The poisonous commodity was scheduled for conversion into industrial ethanol.
According to Koskei, the sugar consignment comprising 20,000 bags (each 50kgs), was imported in 2018 and condemned by the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) for want of expiry date specification.
As a result of the irregularities, President William Ruto suspended KEBS Managing Director Bernard Njiraini alongside 26 other government officials, including eight from the Revenue Authority (KRA), four police officers and six others from the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA).
In a different incident, Police Officers from Kabete Police Station apprehended two suspects on Tuesday, May 23, and recovered two firearms, a machete and a motorcycle.
Other items recovered include two power banks, a WiFi router, a mobile phone - two power tablets and memory cards.
In addition, detectives from the elite Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau, posing as jua kali traders on Monday, May 22, arrested two robbery suspects in Kakamega County.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) report, the two suspects were associated with recent armed attacks in Kakamega, Vihiga and Uasin Gishu counties.
The two were arrested after a chase culminating at river Lwatingu where the main suspect was arrested before he plunged as he attempted to evade justice.
