- Most of such narcotics originate from Ethiopia where they are packaged for the market in Nairobi and other major towns.
- Police say the traffickers use the porous Kenya-Ethiopia border to get their illegal consignment into the country.
Police are looking for a driver and his loader after they left 60 bales of bhang by the roadside in Ngorika area, Nyandarua county.
The two were escaping from police and later decided to offload the cargo and leave it by the roadside, police said, adding that the narcotics are valued about Sh3 million.
Police manning highway in Nakuru had earlier on Saturday said they had flagged down a lorry whose driver refused to stop and sped off.
The same driver is believed to have stopped in Kirigono area, Ngorika village and offloaded the drugs wrapped in yellow nylon papers before escaping.
Residents spotted the cargo sprawled on the road and informed the local chief who called police.
The police arrived and picked up the bales to their local station for processing.
The Nakuru team said efforts to trace the vehicle are ongoing.
Police believe the narcotics had originated from the Kenya-Ethiopia border and were headed for Nairobi.
They say the drug trafficking cartel has put to test the stern measures adopted by anti-narcotics hawkshaws to paralyse the illegal trade in the country.
This is the latest such recovery to be made following heightened operations.
Most of such narcotics originate from Ethiopia where they are packaged for the market in Nairobi and other major towns.
Police say the traffickers use the porous Kenya-Ethiopia border to get their illegal consignment into the country.
The border town of Moyale in northern Kenya is an entry point for large hauls of bhang widely grown in southern Ethiopia.
Once the bhang leaves Shashamane, it heads down south to the border points of Moyale, Sololo, Corolla, Uran and Dukana. Others use Mandera, Wajir, Garissa route.
The other route runs from Funannyata in Sololo, Marsabit county, to the Yamicha plains of Merti subsounty in Isiolo.
They take the consignments to Eastleigh, Majengo and Mlango Kubwa for repackaging and distribution.
For instance, on the February 9, 2024 joint operation, 28 bales had initially been found stashed on the roof cabin of the lorry that ferried mattresses in guise, before a further thorough search revealed a false bottom reinforced with strong bolts and rails where another 104 bales were discovered.
Police have mounted an operations targeting the business seizing dozens of bales valued at millions of shillings.
Police and anti-drugs authorities are concerned over the increasing seizures of shashamane.
The drug from Ethiopia is becoming popular locally and has been on the market for a few years.
Officials say an increase in the use of shashamane is a major challenge in fighting substance abuse.
The drug is boiled in a pot and smoked like shisha, or rolled into joints.
Some addicts mix the drug with mustard seed oil and cannabis before rolling it in joints.
The smoke can affect people as far as four metres away.
Traffickers often conceal it in sacks of rice and sugar.