Livestock farmers in Mbaruk, Gilgil, are enraged at the surge in cattle rustling in two months.
They said they have lost livestock worth millions of shillings to a well-organised cartel transporting the meat to Nairobi.
More than 30 farmers have been robbed and they blame unemployed youth working in cahoots with the cartel.
Last week, residents of Mukeu village in Kinangop off the Nairobi-Nakuru highway burnt a personal car found ferrying the meat of cattle stolen from a nearby home.
Residents of Mbaruk have threatened to block the highway to protest the thefts that have impoverished them.
Farmer Kibe Njuguna said rustlers were keen on the kind of livestock they wanted, especially those near fields where they can be slaughtered.
He said for years he had relied on livestock for his income and said the theft was a blow to him and his family.
“I used to supply several homes with milk but since the theft of three of my dairy cows I have been left penniless,” he said.
“Nearly all the homes that rear livestock in this area have been affected and we are calling on police to take action against this cartel,” farmer Mary Wanjiru said.
A senior police officer from Gilgil police station admitted the problem was rife in the area and blamed youths for working with the cartel.
“Several cases have been reported to us and it’s a matter of time before we get this cartel that is ferrying the meat to Nairobi,” the officer said, declining to be identified.
(Edited by V. Graham)