By John Lepeto
A senior police officer was Wednesday arraigned at the Kahawa Law courts over 13 tonnes of sandalwood and 14 kilograms of cannabis sativa he was arrested in possession of a week ago.
Samburu East Police Commander Calvin Juma Boy Ombata was arrested after two police vehicles Reg No. GKA 237Y Toyota Land cruiser and Isuzu FTS lorry GKB 870T, were found at his residence on September, 27 loaded with the said consignment.
Earlier, sleuths based at the Serious Crimes investigations unit had been tipped off regarding the illegal consignment and rushed to the senior cop’s residence, where the discovery and subsequent arrest was made.
Also arrested during the dusk raid were two police drivers Constable Patrick Murigi and Corporal Festus Saha, who were driving the two vehicles.
Mr Juma Boy pleaded not guilty to the charge of being in possession of endangered species contrary to section 94(4) of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013 and was released on a bond of Sh2 million and a surety of a similar amount.
The harvesting and trade of sandalwood was criminalized in 2007 by the government, following increased exploitation of the aromatic tree whose roots are used for the manufacture of medicines and cosmetics.
A burgeoning illegal trade has grown with the demand for this commodity increasing, leading to its listing in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red list of Threatened Species.
