A police officer and a prisons warder have been arrested while transporting 20 kilogrammes of bhang in a government vehicle in Lerata along the Isiolo-Moyale highway.
Sgt Morris Mugambi and Warder Stephen Kamau – attached to Marsabit GK Prison – were arrested on Wednesday by a multi-agency security team manning a road block while they were transporting the narcotic in a Toyota pick-up truck.
In the vehicle were four other occupants including the driver.
SICK INMATE
Samburu County Police Commander Samson Juma Ogelo told the Nation that the vehicle was taking a sick inmate to Embu for treatment and that the two officers were in civilian clothes.
Mr Ogelo said that upon interrogation, the driver told the security team that the consignment, packed in four small bags and placed on the back side of the car, belonged to the two officers.
Others in the vehicle were the driver’s kin and a uniformed police officer guarding the inmate.
“Sgt Mugambi, a clinician, was seated with the driver while the uniformed officer guarding the sick inmate, Mr Kamau, and the driver’s kin were at the back of the vehicle,” said Mr Ogelo.
SUSPECTS DETAINED
Police reports indicate that Sgt Mugambi, who was monitoring the inmate while in the vehicle, was to hand over the patient to a hospital in Embu and later proceed on leave.
Mr Kamau was also to take his off days.
The police boss said the two were detained at Archer’s Police Post and will be arraigned in Isiolo Friday.
He warned of stern action against police officers indulging in drug trafficking, saying that such behaviour was tainting the government’s image.
“We will not take such issues lightly. Officers caught in drug business will be severely dealt with,” he said.
Early last month, Emmanuel Matunda, a police officer attached to the Rapid Deployment Unit in Wajir County, was arrested with 15 kilos of bhang in the same area (Lerata). He is out on a Sh500,000 bond.
The Isiolo county security team recently announced an extensive crackdown, including use of sniffer dogs and thorough searches on vehicles plying the route, in an effort to curb drug trafficking.