Murkomen puts drug traffickers on notice as he camps in major trafficking route

Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen Thursday put on notice drug traffickers in the country.

Speaking to the media during his Jukwaa La Usalama tour of Isiolo, Murkomen issued a stern warning, stating that the government is now cracking down on drug barons who were using the town as a conduit.

He said the drug menace in Isiolo is only second to Nairobi and Mombasa, naming cocaine, cannabis, and heroin as the most used and trafficked substances.

He said drug traffickers are powerful people, some of whom are heavily armed.

“We have made significant progress in tackling drug trafficking in this county. We are now targeting those behind the trafficking networks to ensure we completely dismantle this menace,” he said.

Isiolo has been in the spotlight due to a surge in abuse of hard drugs in recent days, with the county serving as a transit route for trafficking from neighboring Ethiopia.

This has prompted a government-led crackdown under Operation Ondoa Jangili, targeting cross-border drug trade.

The operation has so far been successful, with authorities seizing drugs worth millions and arresting dozens of notorious peddlers, including 78 foreign nationals.

“Operation Ondoa Jangili has done a commendable job in the fight against drug trafficking in this area. We have seized tonnes of drugs in transit that would have destroyed our youth, and we have brought those responsible to justice,” said CS.

He was accompanied by MPs Joseph Samal ( Isiolo South) and Mohamed Tubi ( Isiolo North), General Service Unit Commandant Ranson Lolmodooni, Eastern Regional Commissioner Paul Rotich, and Isiolo County Commissioner Geoffrey Omoding, among other senior security and administrative officials.

The border town of Moyale in northern Kenya is an entry point for large hauls of bhang widely grown in southern Ethiopia.

Once the bhang leaves Shashamane, it heads down south to the border points of Moyale, Sololo, Corolla, Uran and Dukana.

Others use Mandera, Wajir, Garissa route.

The other route runs from Funannyata in Sololo, Marsabit county, to the Yamicha plains of Merti subcounty in Isiolo.

They take the consignments to Eastleigh, Majengo and Mlango Kubwa for repackaging and distribution.

In March 2020, detectives arrested a man with 56 bales of bhang, packaged like second-hand clothes. The consignment weighed 466 kilograms.

Officials and anti-drugs authorities are concerned over the increasing seizures of shashamane.

The drug, which originates in Ethiopia is becoming popular locally and has been on the market for a few years. 

Officials say an increase in the use of shashamane is a major challenge in fighting substance abuse.

The drug is boiled in a pot and smoked like shisha, or rolled into joints.

Some addicts mix the drug with mustard seed oil and cannabis before rolling it in joints.

The smoke can affect people as far as four metres away.

Traffickers often conceal it in sacks of rice and sugar.