In Athi-river, Mavoko sub county, 16 workers were arrested as police raided an illegal liquor store on Monday.

Fake Kenya Revenue Authority stamps, packed liquor cartons and ethanol were recovered during the raid.

The team led by Athi river director John Kanda, raided the building following a tip off from members of the public who are said to have spotted a suspicious late night business in the premises.

During the raid, it was established that the distillery was operating illegally and packaging a mixture of ethanol and water in bottles, branding, packaging and sticking them with fake KRA stamps before transporting them to the locals.

KRA officials established that the brand were fake after identifying there is no existing brand of liquor packaged(Blue Mountain) in the market

It was established that the packaged liquor would have led to tax loss of Ksh.2.5 million

County Commissioner

Athi-river deputy county commissioner, Charles Wambugu said the multi-agency has launched a major crackdown on illegal liquor distilleries to prevent illegal businesses.

The commissioner has sent a warning to such business saying it endangers the lives of consumers.

He also revealed that the owner is on the run and a manhunt has been launched to know of his whereabouts.

“The director of criminal investigation has done a commendable job. Members of the public are also key in ensuring they give vital information that leads to the identification and raid of such illegal businesses. It is unfortunate that some rogue businesses have become a man-eater society and no longer care about the health of their consumers. We as the security team working with another government agency will not tolerate this unruly behavior that exposes the health of Kenyans,” DCI warned.

The commissioner also said the security team will gain forceful entrance to highly guarded godowns that are dominant in Athi river to establish what kind of business is done.

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