Police bust illegal liquor factory in ex-MPs house in Milimani estate

Some of the illicit liquor found in a house in the posh Milimani Estate in Nakuru County. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH |

What you need to know:

  • The brands of alcoholic drinks that were found packaged in the house include Survivor gin, Summer Premium, Gold Times vodka, Bubblez Spirits, Gold Star vodka and The Chase.
  • Nakuru County Public Health Officer Mr Samuel King’ori who visited the premises confirmed that the plant was operating illegally as the suspects lacked the necessary operation documents from the relevant county authorities.
  • Mr King’ori described the conditions of the premises as dirty and unhygienic, terming the syndicate a public health risk as it was not approved by the Liquor Licensing Board. He also stated that the suspects lacked medical certificates to ascertain their health.

Police in Nakuru have uncovered a mega illicit liquor distilling plant operating from rented residential premises in the posh Milimani estate.

Acting on a tip-off, police raided the premises on Wednesday morning where more than 1,700 litres of suspected ethanol and over 60 litres of Nitric acid was discovered.

Inside the house was a 5,000 litre-tank, more than ten 250 litre-drums, over 100,000 empty glass bottles, labelling stickers, two large bowls and over 20 crates — all believed to be used in the distillation process.

The brands of alcoholic drinks that were found packaged in the house include Survivor gin, Summer Premium, Gold Times vodka, Bubblez Spirits, Gold Star vodka and The Chase.

Shockingly, they bore stickers that indicated that the brands were products of existing reputable and certified distillers and had valid Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) marks.

For instance, Summer Premium, Gold Times and Gold star brands are distilled and packaged by Sanjos Industries Limited in Naivasha.

The Chase and Bubblez spirits brands are manufactured by Tihan Limited in Nairobi while Survivor gin brand is distilled by Crystal World Agencies also in Nairobi.

Some of the empty bottles found in a house at the posh Milimani Estate in Nakuru County. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP

According to Nakuru Officer Commanding Station (OCS) Joshua Omukata who led the 5am raid, it is suspected that the syndicate might have been operating for a long time as most of the brands discovered at the illegal distillery are distributed countrywide.

Seven suspects were arrested in connection with the scandal.

Mr Omukata said it had been confirmed that the same liquor content is packaged into bottles with different brand labels, which misleads the public into consuming the same content from different bottles.

It has since emerged that the house is owned by a former cabinet secretary and Member of Parliament in Kisii who had leased it out.

Nakuru County Public Health Officer Mr Samuel King’ori who visited the premises confirmed that the plant was operating illegally as the suspects lacked the necessary operation documents from the relevant county authorities.

Mr King’ori described the conditions of the premises as dirty and unhygienic, terming the syndicate a public health risk as it was not approved by the Liquor Licensing Board. He also stated that the suspects lacked medical certificates to ascertain their health.

He said he would send a report to neighbouring counties, including a photo of the samples so that public health officers can withdraw the illicit brew from the market.

The public health official further said he will summon the owners of the distilling companies whose stickers were found on the brands discovered.

Mr Omukata said the suspects will be detained at the Nakuru Central Police Station to assist police in investigations to establish the real owners of the plant.

The OCPD has, however, cautioned brew consumers to be vigilant on the brands netted, saying they were already in the market. He declared a crackdown on more illicit brewers in the country.

Acting National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) county director Sarah Warua faulted the business owners saying they did not have an environmental impact assessment license and the accompanying report.

Ms Warua said that for such a business to run, the owner of the business premises would be required to table a report to the county’s NEMA office, after which they would be issued with a license.