Illicit brew destroyed during NACADA crackdown/HandoutA joint security operation led by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) and police has resulted in the arrest of one suspect in Korogocho, Nairobi, during a midnight raid.
More than 1,000 litres of illicit brew were destroyed in the operation targeting illegal distilleries in Nairobi’s informal settlements.
The Friday morning crackdown, conducted in the Grogon B section of Korogocho, was part of an intensified nationwide offensive against the brewing and sale of toxic drinks.
The operation was carried out by NACADA enforcement officers with support from the National Police Service under the Rapid Results Initiative ordered by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen.
During the raid, officers dismantled a makeshift distillery used to manufacture an illicit drink known as Kangara.
Containers filled with fermenting brew, drums of raw materials, and jerrycans of finished product were seized and destroyed on site.
One suspect was arrested at the scene and is expected to face charges.
According to NACADA, the exhibits recovered – including samples of Kangara and Chang’aa – will be presented as evidence in court when the suspect is arraigned at Makadara Law Courts.
NACADA Chief Executive Officer, Anthony Omerikwa, issued a warning to individuals engaged in the illicit trade.
“To those peddling this poison, your time is up. This operation is not an isolated event but part of a sustained nationwide crackdown. We are coming for the distilleries, the distribution networks, and the sellers,” Omerikwa declared.
“Abandon this trade now or face the full force of the law.”
The agency noted that illicit brews such as Kangara pose a grave danger to public health, with cases of blindness, organ failure, and even death reported in recent years.
In Nairobi’s informal settlements, the cheap availability of such drinks has worsened poverty cycles and undermined social stability, sparking repeated calls for tougher action.
The crackdown comes days after the authority confiscated 4,000 litres of ready-to-drink chang’aa in a major pre-dawn crackdown on Nairobi’s illicit alcohol trade.
Acting on weeks of intelligence, the authority led a multi-agency team into the Mukuru kwa Reuben and Mukuru kwa Njenga settlements on Friday, 26 September 2025, striking at the heart of a suspected underground distillery and distribution network.
The Interior Ministry’s Rapid Results Initiative, rolled out last month, is targeting hotspots across the country where production and consumption of illegal brews remain widespread.
The government has framed the campaign as a multi-agency effort, bringing together NACADA, police, county authorities, and local administrators.
NACADA has pledged that more raids will follow in the coming weeks as the state intensifies its battle against toxic alcohol.
