Two arrested, 5304 bottles of illicit liquor seized in Machakos

Two people have been arrested and 5,304 bottles of illicit second-generation liquor impounded in Machakos.

The consignment packed in 250 ml bottles was recovered during police operations within the county on Wednesday.

Police also impounded two cars that were allegedly being used to transport the liquor.

Machakos county commissioner Josephine Ouko said one of the vehicles had 100 boxes of the liquor with each box containing 24 bottles while the second car had 121 bottles of the same quantity.

She said the total quantity of the illicit second-generation liquor is 1,326 litres.

Ouko said the two arrested persons were drivers.

“Following the presidential directive pronounced by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua that all second-generation illicit brew must be stopped, we declared Machakos a no zone for second-generation illicit brew,” Ouko said.

She addressed the press on Thursday.

“We had a chase from Kangundo to Machakos, Mwala, and Thika and impounded the two vehicles. They have hauls of 100 and 121 boxes of the illicit liquor respectively,” Ouko said.

The administrator said they trailed the vehicles following intelligence information from the public.

“You can imagine the damage it can cause to our economy and the productive age of this nation,” Ouko said.

She said all the illicit liquor was destined for the market.

"Some people collect the used bottles, clean and use them to repackage the illicit second-generation liquor which is illegal,” Ouko said.

Ouko said some of the dealers in the illicit trade were threatening security officers involved in the crackdown.

“But, we are telling them, their time is up. We have close to 2,000 people who have been arrested in the crackdown across Machakos and the majority arraigned,” Ouko said.

She said the county must be cleaned of illicit liquor and residents be protected from any form of harm.

Ouko said they were employing a multi-sectorial approach in the ongoing countywide crackdown.