Isiolo MCA arrested over links to Sh6 million bhang

A member of the County Assembly in Isiolo County has been arrested over links to suspected drug trafficking in the Northern Frontier District.

Chari Ward MCA Abdillahi Golicha Meja, 27, and his accomplice Nura Abdi Diba, 25, were arrested on the outskirts of Isiolo town by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers.

According to DCI,  Meja and his accomplice were arrested by a multi-agency team that included officers from the Transnational Organized Crimes Unit.

The duo were driving in a Toyota Land Cruiser before they were cornered by the sleuths.

After the arrest, the officers then went to Diba's house at Kambi Garba Estate which is on the outskirts of Isiolo town, where they found the drugs.

They found six gunny bags which had 57 stones of bhang stashed in the said house.

The bhang weighed 295 kilogrammes and police estimate that its street value is about Sh6 million.

“The exhibits have since been escorted to DCI headquarters for further processing as the suspects undergo investigative interviewing,” DCI said on X.

Police sources told The Standard that the suspects are reportedly behind the drug operations in the region and are well connected which had made it hard for their arrest.

Police also say that the bhang is smuggled into the country from Ethiopia and then distributed to different regions across North Eastern and Eastern regions.