Police in Voi sub-county on Sunday morning seized six bags of bhang with a street value of Sh4.5 million at Ziwa La Ng’ombe along the Voi-Taveta Highway after hours-long chase with a daredevil driver who eventually dumped his car and melted into the bush.
Speaking on Monday, County Police Commander Patrick Okeri said police received a tip-off from a member of the public over the vehicle with the illicit cargo and laid an ambush at the Caltex area to intercept the vehicle.
However, the vehicle’s driver defied the order to stop and sped along Nairobi-Mombasa highway towards Maungu. “We alerted Maungu police station to put up a roadblock to stop the car. Our officers then pursued the car,” Okeri said.
The driver, whose identity is yet to be established, came across the roadblock but made a sudden U-turn on the highway and sped back towards Voi.
In the process, he narrowly missed colliding head-on with a police Land Cruiser that was pursuing him. The police driver was forced to swerve off the road to avoid hitting the incoming car.
The panicked driver diverted to Voi-Taveta Highway and drove into a nearby homestead where he abandoned the vehicle and vanished. “We found the car abandoned in a homestead in Mwatate. The driver was missing but we are looking for him,” explained the police boss.
The car was towed to Voi Police Station and investigations have been launched. The police are also liaising with National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) to establish the ownership of the vehicle. The car’s engine number and chassis number are different suggesting they have been tampered with.
Okeri said police would not allow any trade that violated the law to be conducted in the region. He stated that more patrols would be intensified and called upon members of the public to volunteer information about criminal activities.
The county police boss added that it is against the law to sell bhang and warned the public against engaging in illegal business in order to get rich quickly saying the police would catch up with such law breakers.
“It is illegal to sell bhang. It is our work as the police to arrest those who go against this law,” Okeri said.
