One arrested as lorry carrying ethanol impounded in Busia

Police officers from Adungosi Police Station in Teso South subcounty, Busia County have intercepted a lorry from Uganda carrying 31 containers, 250 litres each suspected to be ethanol.

The lorry also had other illegal goods equivalent to almost Kshs. 10 million along Busia-Kisumu Road.

Addressing the press at the Busia Police Station, the Busia County Commissioner Dr. Ahmed Omar said that the driver of the lorry acted suspicious defying police order to stop.

The attempt by the suspect to escape back to Uganda bored no fruits as he was intercepted near Busia Township primary where two other suspected managed to escape to Uganda leaving the driver behind.

“They were trying to run away after the police suspected the lorry to have illegal goods and shot few bullets to scare them,” Omar said.

Dr. Omar confirmed that the suspect will remain under police custody pending investigation as they wait to arraign him in court thereafter.

“We are waiting for the KRA officers to come and verify what is inside the containers and all the assorted goods arrested at the police station,” he noted.

He also said that they have deployed security officers along the entry border points to curb such cases of illegal goods entering the country though they cannot 100% security because of the porous border.

Kenya’s long, porous border with Uganda remains the biggest challenge in the fight against smuggling and counterfeit goods.

High production costs and the mismanagement of factories have led to a drop in sugar production in Kenya over the past two decades, opening the door for smugglers. In 2020, sugar made up 48% of the goods smuggled into the country, according to the National Crime Research Centre.

Busia border remain high alert on illegal business and high rate of insecurity soothing that remain big headache to the security personnel in the county.

“We are doing everything possible to guarantee the safety of Kenyans, and their businesses,” said Dr.Omar.

“We have intensified patrols especially along the border at Malaba and Busia OSBP. We have also intensified road searches on the Busia-Kisumu and Malaba- Eldoret road,” he added.