A consignment of uncustomed powdered milk worth over Sh75 million was Tuesday recovered by detectives in a raid at go down located in Nairobi’s Eastlands suburbs.
In the well-coordinated operation conducted by sleuths from the Economic and Commercial Crimes Unit and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officers, 1,511 bags of powdered milk that had previously been declared unfit for human consumption at the Port of Mombasa were recovered.
The team is now investigating how the milk that had been condemned and was due for destruction found its way to a godown in Mowlem area.
The owner of the godown where the cargo was stored was picked up for grilling, police said.
It is suspected that the consignment was sneaked from a Mombasa-based godown, before being hauled to Nairobi secretly for repackaging, to be sold to unsuspecting members of the public.
The detectives who were acting on intelligence moved with speed and raided the premises where the 25- kilogramme bags, which had the labels detailing their expiry dates removed and were ready for repackaging, were found.
The illegal shipment, which the government lost over Sh32 million in unpaid taxes, was immediately declared unfit for human consumption, by officials from the Kenya Bureau of Standards.
Detectives are on a manhunt for the mastermind behind the high-level scheme which would have had devastating consequences on the health of Kenyans, had the powdered milk found its way to the local market.
A team was sent to Mombasa to investigate how the cargo was released and grill those behind the same.
This comes in the wake of increased operations targeting contraband goods and especially alcohol.
Multi-agency teams are conducting the operations raiding several stores where the products are and seizing them.
Most of the cases are pending in court and relate to the production of fake stamp duty.
Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin said they will sustain the operation to address the issue of selling expired products to unsuspecting Kenyans.
“We are determined to rid this vice and we urge for cooperation from all stakeholders,” he said.
