A multi-agency security team comprising of officers from Archers Post Police Station, the National Police Reservists (NPR) as well as rangers from the Samburu National Reserve managed to seize narcotics worth Kshs. 1.8m following a tip from members of the public.
Locals noticed a suspicious white Toyota Probox with an unknown registration number traveling from Isiolo to Marsabit.
The sighting is said to have occurred near the Waso Nyiro River, where armed individuals were observed unloading luggage from the vehicle.
Following reports of the sighting, the team went to the location where they saw people pushing the off-loaded luggage towards the river.
When the suspects saw the officers, they opened fire, resulting in an exchange of gunfire. The suspects, however, managed to flee into a nearby bush, leaving the officers at the scene of the crime.
The officers left near the river and searched the surrounding area, recovering two green sacks containing several yellow and grey cello-tape bundles suspected of being cannabis sativa.
The consignment weighed approximately 62.65 kilograms, with an estimated street value of Kshs. 1,879,500.
The recovered consignment has since been secured as exhibit pending further action from the police, with efforts to track and apprehend the suspects underway.
The National Police Service (NPS) has since then, appealed to members of the public to come forward to the nearest police station or security agency if they have any information in regard to the whereabouts or identities of the suspects.
The Samburu operation is part of efforts by the NPS and other security agencies to combat the drug abuse issue that has been plaguing the country in recent weeks, with arrests having been made in Kilifi and Nairobi where suspects were found to be in possession of drugs, intent to traffic drugs or being in possession and distributing illicit brew
