Several pubs in Nairobi’s Eastlands area are alerting their customers about a growing trend of men spiking drinks. This rise of “Pishori masters,” who are replacing the notorious “mchele bebes,” has raised significant concerns among bar operators.
In response, many bars have stepped up their security measures to ensure the safety of their patrons. Some establishments have invested in CCTV cameras and have hired safety ambassadors to monitor and protect customers while they are on the premises.
“You will find them smartly dressed, smelling of expensive perfume just to create a picture that they are stable business people. These ae the people who walk into pubs select their target, strike a friendship over time, then later spike their drinks, and steal from them,” said Mwihaki.
Mwihaki, a patron at a bar in Embakasi, reports that there have been times when she approached customers to caution them about certain individuals at their table. She explains that the increase in “mchele dudes” is partly due to growing suspicions surrounding women in pubs, as they are often associated with spiking men’s drinks.
As a result, she believes criminals are now adapting their methods by using men instead of women to carry out this crime.
“These criminals will conveniently befriend you over time, to the point you can trust them, even asking them to guard your drink as you go out to pee or make a phone call. That is when they will spike your drink, and then pretend to be taking you home to rest.
“Some of them will offer to buy you a drink to two, then you watch a football match together, even exchange contacts, and names,” cautions Mwihaki.
According to Mwihaki, they have received complaints especially from new patrons, claiming that a man they met at the pub had conned or spiked their dinks, and robbed them.
“Just do not trust everybody you meet at the pub, even if you support the same football team, when you have just met them,” she told Wananchi Reporting.
Reports indicate that some of the drugs used to spike drinks may be bought over the counter. The Poisons and Pharmacy Board (PPB), a body mandated to regulate the drugs, in 2022 told Citizen Digital that they had heightened surveillance with a view to getting to the root of the matter.
Meanwhile, Kenyans who visit clubs or pubs – especially now that football season is just about to kick in – should be careful especially when they are alone – enjoying a drink.
“You can tag along a fiend… but I see people preferring to take their drinks directly from the bottle,” says Mwihaki.
Others – she says – intentionally avoid taking the same drink from the same glass.
