A Taveta court on Tuesday declined to allow the hearing of a case where two people were charged with smuggling assorted scrap motor vehicle batteries weighing 15 tonnes.
Stephen Muteti and Godson Nzuki are charged with transporting scrap batteries worth Sh750,000 along Voi-Taveta road on diverse dates in early October.
They were intercepted following intelligence received by a multi-agency team. The suspects entered the country through porous borders.
The prosecution had failed to produce the truck in question.
The two were jointly charged before Taveta Principal Magistrate David Munyao Ndungi.
They denied the offences and were granted a bond of Sh100,000 with alternative cash bail of Sh30,000 each.
But on Tuesday when the matter came up for hearing, the prosecution failed to produce the truck that ferried the scrap prompting the court to postpone the case.
The case was first mentioned on October 27, 2023.
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) said in collaboration with other government agencies, they are committed to the fight against the illicit trade.
The authority has deployed robust techniques to ensure actively conducts intelligence surveillance, investigations and prosecution of unscrupulous traders.
The arraignment came barely two weeks after police and Kenya Revenue Authority officials arrested truck drivers ferrying scrap metal to Tanzania using fake National Environment Management Authority (Nema) licenses.
The customs officials intercepted the trucks ferrying scrap batteries to Tanzania using the Taveta border point.
Scrap Metal Council chairperson Francis Mugo said efforts had been heightened to curb the menace especially along the border points.
The accused were also charged with exporting without the requisite documents. It was established that the Nema license the driver was using was fake.
“One of the trucks was escorted by KRA officials to the Customs offices at Taveta where it is being held. We are investigating how the owner managed to get the Nema license before he is arraigned in court,” Mugo said.
The other truck is being processed awaiting the verification of documents provided by the driver before action is taken.
Nema Director General Mamo Mamo said his officers were investigating the authenticity of the license provided by the traders.
“My officers are in the process of investigating the validity of the documents after which action will be taken,” Mamo said.
