Gateway of bhang from Tanzania’s green farms

Several sleek cars are parked at various police stations in Migori County. At first glance, the yards could be mistaken for car bazaars, but then one realises that most of the cars are rusty and dusty. Some have been vandalised and lack side-mirrors, batteries and other parts.

Most of these vehicles have one thing in common. They were seized by law enforcement agents in Migori town while transporting drugs into the country from neighbouring Tanzania.

Police estimate that at least two vehicles loaded with bhang pass through the region every day to big towns for sale. The consignments are transported during the day and at night.

Some traffickers have been arrested in the area while others have been apprehended while in transit to Kericho, Nakuru and Narok.

Police say the value of bhang impounded in the region in the past three years is estimated at over Sh100 million.

GROWERS AND TRADERS

It is believed that most of the bhang consumed in Kenya is obtained from Tanzania because the authorities there are not as strict on growers and traders as Kenya police are.

“Crime levels are rising as a result of bhang smoking … not to mention the increasing number of school drop-outs who engage in acts of lawlessness,” said a police officer working in Migori and who has been actively involved in the anti-narcotics swoop.

In Nairobi and Mombasa, a stone of the drug costs between Sh800 and Sh1,000, although the dealers buy the same from growers at Sh20, making the business quite lucrative.

Investigations show the consignments are usually packed in sacks, mainly in Suna West, Suna East, Nyatike, Kuria West and Kuria East sub-counties for collection by top-of-the-range vehicles.

The consignments are packed neatly in bags that are sprayed with perfume to mask the cargo. The mode of transportation changes from time to time in a bid to escape police dragnets.

From Mercedes Benz cars to Toyota Prados, the bhang finds its way to the country’s major towns, schools, colleges and markets. Traffickers with lesser means use matatus, hired lorries and bicycles.

Car hire firms have had their new expensive vehicles impounded by police while transporting the drug. The vehicles are preferred by dealers because they are rarely stopped at roadblocks.

“Police only impound such a vehicle if they have a tip-off. Ordinarily, they salute you at the roadblocks from Nyanza to Nairobi to Mombasa,” said Samuel Onyango, a dealer who was recently charged in court.

PROTRUDING BOTTOMS

There are also small-scale traders who carry the drug in suitcases while others, particularly women, strap it around their waists.

Three women were recently charged in a Migori court with transporting bhang. Their mode of transport perplexed everybody: Several stones of bhang were tied around their waists, making their bottoms protrude.

They covered the cargo with a shuka which also supported new-born babies on the back. The babies were “borrowed” from neighbours privy to the deal and were a quick ticket through the roadblocks on the Migori-Nairobi road.

But hawkeyed officers noticed that their “bottoms were abnormally big” and asked female officers to conduct a check. What emerged were slim women carrying huge stones of bhang.

Meanwhile, Kenyan authorities have been meeting their Tanzanian colleagues to curb the nefarious trade.

Many illegal entry points at the border have been sealed and security officers posted to man them.

Parents have been complaining that the drug is pushing children out of school, and into alcohol dens.

Reformed street boy John Owiti says he left school when his peers introduced him to bhang smoking.

“It gave me a false illusion that I could make it in life without necessarily going to school. I wasted my time smoking bhang in the streets. I wish I could get youth back and return to school,” he says.

Mr Owiti, 35, is now a carpenter in Migori Town. He learnt carpentry at a rehabilitation centre in Nairobi after dropping out of school at Standard Five.

Migori County CID commander Sospeter Munyi says they will not relent in efforts to curb drug trafficking. He told security officers in the area to ensure no stone of bhang passed through the local highways.

LARGE SCALE

Two years ago a high-level team Kenyan government team visited bhang farms in Tanzania, following increased trade and consumption of the drug in the country.

They toured the “green farms” of Tarime District where the drug is grown on a large scale.

The Kenyan team comprised then Nacada directors Owino Achola, Jonathan Soi, Grace Otieno, Anne Mugo and Mohammed Shidiye, as well as former District Commissioners Julius Mutula (Migori), James Mugwe (Kuria West) and Magu Mutindika (Kuria East).

The administrators said previous attempts to have the crop uprooted failed due to lack of co-operation from Tanzanian authorities. “Tanzanians said they grew bhang because there was a ready market in Kenya,” said then DC Mutula.

“Our porous borders have presented the traffickers with opportunity to play hide and seek with security officers. Bhang has been declared illegal internationally and Tanzania is a signatory to that agreement,” said Mr Shidiye.

Usually, vehicles impounded with bhang are discharged soon after the matter is concluded in court.

But due to the slow nature of the country’s judicial system, the vehicles get damaged beyond repair in police yards, while others are vandalised.

Vehicles whose owners are convicted are forfeited to the State.

Migori Governor Okoth Obado praised the police for being alert in halting bhang trade.