Bhang users in Kenya have come to complain about the inadequacy of weed in the country after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations rolled out an elaborate plan to weed out traffickers and users of the drug.
Since he took an oath of office in August last year, DCI George Kinoti embarked on a purge that has since left weed lover forking out huge sums of money to get a puff.
Users speaking in confidence said that a roll of weed which used to cost Sh50 now costs up to Sh150. However, depending on your dalliance with the peddler, you could negotiate to Sh100 as a regular customer.
“Again…..uuuui hii ukame ya weed imezidi ya Turkana sasa .Tufungueni till no ya kuhonga makarao,” remarked a source.
“What is the problem,??? Kuna shortage(of weed) Nairobi we need it so much,” said another source.
In his third month in office, Kinoti nabbed bhang worth Sh2.4 million in Ndara area of Taita Taveta County. The bhang which was suspected to be headed for Mombasa was one of the largest consignments ever nabbed at the time.
But a string of sting operations would follow closely the next day when police in Migori County uprooted bhang in Riangoro in Suna West Constituency.
On November 18, 2018, sleuths in Lamu county arrested a middle-aged man with 214 rolls of bhang which had a street value of Sh40,000. The man was also found with Sh28,000 in cash.
Two days later, police in Kwale county would arrest a man in possession of 160 rolls of bhang valued at Sh70,000.
The biggest end-year drug bust of 2018 came on the 21st of December when police from Chogoria arrested a woman in Maara Sub-County of Tharaka-Nithi with bhang worth Sh860,000.
As the new year was ushered in, DCI Kinoti continued with his purge on banned drugs in the country.
On New Year’s day, police arrested a man found with bhang worth 206,000 along the Lamu-Garsen road. The man had 401 rolls of bhang.
February 3, police in Makueni confiscated bhang worth Sh3 million from a car. The occupants of the car fled on foot after police flagged them.
The same month on the 21st, police gave a chase after a lorry transporting bhang worth millions of shillings. The lorry was involved in a fatal accident where the co-driver died on the spot while the driver was arrested with injuries.
March 23, Police acting on intelligence nabbed bhang worth Sh 1.5 million in Naivasha.
Two days later, police arrested two senior officials of a transport company after their vehicle was found transporting bhang worth Sh2.1 million.
May 10, Police nabbed bhang worth stashed in a Petrol Tanker along Thika Road in what appeared to be the newest tactic traffickers were using to evade police dragnets that had become one too many.
On 16th May, a Muranga GK Prison warder was killed by a Kisumu artiste in her house in Kiharu Estate. The man behind the murder confessed to investigators that he committed the offence as a result of smoking too much bhang.
He strangled the warder unconscious before stabbing her multiple times on the neck, chest and abdomen.
The warder was laid to rest Wednesday of 22nd May in Nakuru County, while the suspect in the murder remains in custody awaiting to be charged with attempted suicide and murder of the warder.
May 20, police in Londiani nabbed bhang worth Sh4.2 million after the car occupant drove into a petrol station and escaped on foot.
Inside the abandoned car, police found bhang weighing 223 kilograms.
According to the Kenyan 2010 constitution, any person found in possession of a banned drug or psychotropic substance is guilty of an offense.
The law states that such a person, upon conviction, would be sentenced to jail for a period of not less than 20 years in prison for trafficking. However, if the court is convinced the accused used the drugs for personal consumption, they would be sentenced to a jail term not less than 10 years.
Wednesday 22nd May a court in Nyeri sentenced a woman convicted of trafficking bhang worth Sh2820 to serve in prison for a period of 30 years!
Rose Wanjiru, was handed the jail term without an option of fine by Principal Magistrate Harrison Adika.