Police officers from the anti-narcotic unit have seized seven sacks of cannabis sativa in Kilifi county.
The bhang weighed 429.3 kg and had a street value of Sh12,879,000.
Kilifi county criminal investigations officer David Sielle said the bhang was seized at Kibao Kiche along the Mariakani Mavueni highway.
The CCIO said the bhang was loaded in a blue truck and two suspects were arrested.
“The truck was coming from Uganda where it had delivered some cargo. It picked up the drugs in Busia and it was to be delivered in Mombasa. Our officers have been tracking the vehicle until they intercepted it in Mariakani,” he said.
However, two other people who were in the truck were released after interrogation.
One of those released was a driver who boarded the truck in Uganda after delivering a vehicle in Uganda while the other was a woman who boarded the truck in Nairobi.
One of the suspects who was arrested, police say had been on their radar for some time.
“We believe one of the suspects is the owner of the drugs and he has been on our radar. He sent for the drugs and boarded the truck along the way. We arrested him at around 3.30 am while offloading some of the sacks in an open field,” he said
The coast region and Kilifi county anti-narcotics unit conducted the operation.
The CCIO said traffickers have now changed tactics by using long-distance vehicles to ferry drugs.
“Most of the trucks prefer using the Mavueni route to evade roadblocks on the Mombasa route. We have heightened our investigations and we hope to finish this menace,” he added
On March 5, this year a similar truck was caught in Mariakani with seven sacks of bhang.
Sielle said the use of cannabis sativa in Kilifi has contributed to crimes like the killing of the elderly.
The two suspects will be arraigned in court on Monday.
