• The four respondents were arraigned before Kibera chief magistrate Joyce Gandani who directed that they be detained at Kilimani police station until on Tuesday.
A Kibera court has allowed detectives five days to detain five people suspected to be drug traffickers.
Kibera chief magistrate Joyce Gandani granted the order after police constable George Otieno filed a miscellaneous application before the court.
In the application, Otieno requested 21 days, but the respondent's lawyers quickly objected to the application, saying that detaining them for too long was unconstitutional.
The four suspects are Victor Opiyo, Kevin Kang'ethe, Edwin Njoroge and Hardick Parech.
"I am investigating a case of trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances contrary to the law. The respondents were arrested on March 30 and booked at Kilimani police station," Otieno told Gandani.
He told the court that detectives arrested the four at a restaurant and recovered from their cars an assortment of items including weighing machines, substances suspected to be cocaine and bhang and straws among other materials.
The detective told the court that a multi-agency operation was key for him to conduct full investigations and more days were needed.
"To conduct investigations, a multi-agency approach to unravel the major players that are facilitating the offence is needed. The respondents are suspected to be distributing drugs in Ruai, Embakasi, Fedha estate, Tassia, Nyayo among other areas," he told the court.
He said that he needed 21 days to hold the suspects at Kilimani police station so that he completes his investigations, which included conducting forensic analysis on some ten mobile phones and several Sim cards.
The detective also told the court preliminary investigations showed that the respondents were linked to a drug network operating across international borders and there was a need to liaise with Interpol.
However, the defence poked holes in his application and urged the court to dismiss it on the ground that the detectives have been following up on the matter for long.
"The officer detained the suspects for more than 24 hours and now they want the court to allow them to detain them for 21 days. That is not in order. We pray this court not to allow the application," said the defence counsel.
Gandani directed that the matter be mentioned on Tuesday for directions.
Edited by Henry Makori