The government is preparing to seize and freeze property allegedly tied to the illicit alcohol and drug trade as it widens a crackdown that has so far resulted in 3,331 arrests and the seizure of 675,505 litres of illegal alcohol.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the operation would no longer focus only on taking illegal alcohol and drugs off the streets, but would also target the money, buildings, land and other property allegedly supporting the trade.
Speaking during the destruction of methamphetamine in Bamburi on Thursday, Murkomen said 385,875 litres of the alcohol seized since President William Ruto issued a directive in January had already been destroyed.
“Since that Presidential Directive, our multi-agency crackdown has netted 3,331 persons in connection with manufacturing, distribution, retailing and consumption of illicit alcohol and seized 675,505 litres of illicit alcohol, of which 385,875 litres have already been destroyed,” Murkomen said.
He said the government would pursue assets used to carry out illegal activities as well as property allegedly acquired from proceeds of drug trafficking and the illicit alcohol business.
“All assets used in or acquired through drug trafficking and the illicit alcohol trade will be treated as proceeds of crime, promptly frozen and forfeited to the State,” he said.
Murkomen said President Ruto had also directed that property recovered from such networks be put to use in programmes dealing with substance abuse, including rehabilitation, prevention and treatment.
“We are not just taking drugs off the street. We are taking the profits off the pockets of criminals and putting them to work for the benefit of the very communities they have harmed,” he said.
The CS said premises suspected of being used to keep illicit alcohol would also come under scrutiny, with the government prepared to pursue ownership of the property instead of stopping at confiscating the illegal products.
“If we find you storing illicit alcohol, we will not just take the illicit alcohol, but we will commence the process of taking the premises,” he said.
He cited a factory in Kajago that he said was allegedly being used to store or produce methamphetamine, arguing that enforcement should cover the facility and the land associated with the alleged activities.
“That is the only way we will make this crime very punitive and very painful for the criminals who are going to benefit from it,” he said.
Alongside the enforcement measures, Murkomen said the government was putting more attention on people affected by drug and alcohol abuse.
He said President Ruto directed in January that rehabilitation centres be established across all 47 counties through cooperation between county governments and the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA).
Murkomen added that the Social Health Authority would expand treatment cover for people struggling with substance abuse.
“The government's message is clear. We will hunt down traffickers, but we will not abandon the victims of drugs,” Murkomen said.
He said the response would involve government agencies, county governments and communities, combining arrests and other enforcement measures with rehabilitation and treatment.
Murkomen also warned public officials against working with drug traffickers and illicit alcohol networks, saying those found helping the illegal businesses would lose their jobs and face criminal charges.
“Any government official found colluding with drug traffickers or illicit alcohol networks will be dismissed from service and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” he said.