Five people have been arrested, three trucks impounded and over 660 bags of cement recovered by police officers in Athi River, Machakos County.
The suspects were nabbed, trucks impounded and bags of cement recovered during a swoop mounted by Kenya Police Service officers from Athi River Police Station on Monday.
The five included three drivers of the said trucks and handymen found in the act by the cops allegedly siphoning cement. The bags of cement were on transit to customers who had ordered them from the producer.
Each truck carries 220 bags of cement weighing 50 kilogrammes each.
The driver of the third lorry escaped during the crackdown and is under pursuit by the cops.
The operation was led by Athi River South Subcounty Police Commander Philis Muthoni and OCS Athi River Police Station Simon Kerich.
Muthoni said the operation was prompted by police intelligence on the possible cement siphoning racket involving some drivers of trucks that transport cement from manufacturers to unsuspecting customers across the country.
There was a complaint made by a victim of such siphoning at Athi River Police Station on November 18.
The woman according to police reported that she had been supplied with bags of cement on November 18 only to realise that the bags weighed less than 50kgs each.
This was despite paying the company money for bags weighing 50kgs each.
She claimed the bags weighed 46kgs, alleging that 4kgs had been siphoned from all bags.
She reported suspected siphoning of her cement by unknown individuals at an unknown place between the company where she had bought them and her residence where they were being supplied in Kayole, Nairobi.
The woman claimed to have weighed each of the bags delivered to her and confirmed her claims.
Police then acted on the complaint by trucking the motor vehicle she alleged to have supplied her with cement. It was impounded and the driver arrested.
The driver was arraigned in Mavoko Law Courts on Monday where the court granted police anticipatory orders to hold him so as to conclude investigations. He was locked up at the station.
Muthoni said their 5.30 pm operation led them to the scene of the crime, an open ground located about 200 metres off Old Mombasa Road where they busted some men allegedly siphoning cement from two trucks.
Police also recovered a delivery note from a cement company dated November 25, 2024, from one of the trucks' dashboard.
The truck according to the document was ferrying 220 bags of cement from the company to deliver to a hardware in Nairobi.
The price per bag and the total amount paid for the consignment sections on the delivery note were both concealed.
Several new empty branded bags were also recovered from the scene.
The matter was reported to Athi River Police Station as an operation on illegal cement siphoning.
The drivers were escorted to the Athi River Police Station while the third truck was also towed to the station after its driver evaded arrest.
He wasn't at the scene during the swoop.
The owner of the yard where the operations were conducted wasn't at the scene during the raid. He was yet to be arrested by press time.
Muthoni said they had intensified their operations on the syndicate.
She urged the public to volunteer relevant information to the police so as to help rid the area of such crimes alongside others.
One of the nabbed handsmen claimed they had been siphoning cement at the same site 24/7.
He said more motor vehicles were siphoned at night than daytime.
The university dropout said he got hired at the site two years ago after leaving campus for lack of school fees.
He said they get paid Sh500 per day.
He said they siphon between two to six kgs from each 50kgs bag.
"Each truck ferrying 220 bags is siphoned by three people at a time," he said.
