Three Arrested As 1,000 Pieces Of Explosive Detonators Seized At Taveta border
by Wycliffe NyamasegeKenya Revenue Authority (KRA) customs officers based at the Taveta-Holili One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) on Friday evening seized 1,000 pieces of explosive detonators at Mwakitau along the Taveta-Mombasa highway.
The detonators were packed in 10 boxes containing 100 pieces each.
In a statement to newsrooms on Monday, the taxman said three suspects were arrested in connection to the incident with the help of police officers attached to the One Stop Border Post (OSBP).
The devices, according to KRA, were being transported together with Tobacco by a truck no T143ARG at around 5.30 pm, one kilometer away from Maktau roadblock, Taita Taveta County.
“The consignment in the vehicle had been declared at the border point as raw tobacco from Moshi Tanzania and was destined to Mombasa. However, on being stopped and upon rummaging by Customs officers, and checking the cabin, the officers found two packages of Supreme Plain detonators in the vehicle, ” said KRA.
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The driver of the truck told the officers that the detonators were handed over to him at Taveta town to be delivered to the owner at Mwatate.
Among those arrested include the truck driver and a turn boy who are both Tanzanian nationals.
The third suspect is an individual who presented himself at the station with a mining permit and claiming to be the owner of the detonators.
The three were handed over to the AntiTerrorism Police Unit. They will be charged with contravening the Explosive Act.