Police in Nyandarua County on Sunday night seized thousands of contraband sugar in Ol Kalou town which was being repackaged at the National Cereals and Produce Board stores.
The stores have been leased to Jamaa Supermarket stores owned by a prominent businessman in the region with branches in Nyahururu and Naivasha town.
Some of the sugar is indicated to have been manufactured by West Kenya Sugar Company Ltd and clearly marked ‘Not for sale. For industrial use only.’
Police found some 30 employees of the supermarket repackaging the sugar and arrested them. They are being held up at the Ol Kalou Police Station.
They also confiscated other goods among them fertilizer, cooking fat, maize and wheat flour which are also believed to be contraband.
The operation was led by Central Regional CID Officer Danson Ndilu, in collaboration with Nyandarua County CID Officer Shaban Muhammad and Nyandarua Central DCI, Stansellous Mwangi among other AP and Kenya Police officers.
Ndilu said police received a tip off that some contraband goods were hidden in the stores.
"The members of the public gave us the tip off and we sent our officers to the stores. That is where we found the employees of the supermarket repackaging the contraband sugar. We arrested them and they will be arraigned in court," he said.
He said the owner has been asked to avail whatever documents he has to confirm their authenticity.
He said that they have also invited the Kenya Revenue Authority and Kenya Bureau of Standards to assist the police in verifying the standards of the goods so as to have adequate evidence to present in court.
