•A businessman had converted his sawmill to a liquor manufacturing plant.
•The four suspects are currently in custody at Molo Police station.
Detectives have arrested an unlicensed liquor distiller in Elburgon, Molo sub-county.
The suspect was found in possession of over 30,000 counterfeit excise stamps and hundreds of litres of ethanol.
James Nderitu, a businessman and former saw-miller, had converted his sawmill to a liquor manufacturing plant.
In an operation conducted by detectives in Molo, the sleuths sneaked into the sawmill in unmarked vehicles posing as potato farmers and busted three workers who were busy packaging the liquor ready for the market.
"Hundreds of counterfeited bottles affixed with fake KRA stamps were recovered during the raid," DCI boss George Kinoti said in a tweet.
Three of his employees, Fredrick Kiprotich, Joram Choge and Langat Kipng’etich, who also acted as the plant’s connoisseurs and tested whether the potency of each brand had achieved its desired level, have also been arrested.
The fake liquor labels included those of popular brands such as Tripple Ace, Kibao, and Konyagi, locally known as ‘Munyangate’.
Police also seized an alcohol meter, a measuring tube, assorted synthetic flavours, among other paraphernalia used in liquor production.
The four suspects are currently in custody at Molo Police station being processed for arraignment.
The arrests come months after a report revealed that Kenya's is losing between Sh85 billion and Sh100 billion annually to counterfeiting activities alone.
The Anti-Counterfeit Agency said the illicit trade was denying the government the much-needed development revenue.
Overall, illicit trade denies the taxman up to Sh153.1 billion annually.
“Counterfeiters look at fast-moving goods,” ACA acting executive director Fridah Kaberia said, “ If we can deal with illicit trade in the country, we can create space for local manufacturers to grow.”