SMUGGLER ARRESTED WITH 12M ETHANOL

SMUGGLER ARRESTED WITH 12M ETHANOL

By Donald Kogai

A truck driver was arrested and arraigned at

Busia Law Court before Senior Resident

Magistrate Ms. Phoebe Kulecho and charged

with counts, being in possession of

ethanol worth Kshs. 12 million.

Peter Lawrence Mwangi, was

also accused of transporting restricted goods

contrary to Section 199 of the East African

Community Customs Management Act

(EACCMA), 2004 and concealment of imported

goods contrary to Section 202(a) of the

EACCMA, 2004.

Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) officers based

at Busia One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) arrested

the suspect during a routine verification

process and impounded two trucks ferrying

goods from Uganda.

The trucks with registration number KBU 336Q/

ZD0532 and T934ACJ/T801ASW AC921B were

each carrying 72 drums containing 250 litres of

ethanol packed in 144 drums and concealed in

43 bags of maize packed in each truck.

He was arrested after he presented

himself to the KRA officers as the driver of the

truck KBU 336Q/ZD0532. The other truck driver

and the consignees are at large and are being

sought by Detectives .

Mr. Mwangi was released on bond of

500,000 with one surety after pleading not

guilty pending hearing on 21st April 2020.

Kenya Revenue Authority stepped up border

surveillance at all

ports of entry to curb incidents of smuggling.

Multi-agency collaborations and intelligence

sharing has been enhanced to curb illicit trade.