By The DCI
A senior police officer was yesterday arraigned at the Kahawa Law courts after he was arrested in possession of over 13 tonnes of Sandalwood, 14 Kilograms of Cannabis Sativa and an assault rifle aweek ago.
Calvin Juma Boy Ombata, Superintendent of police deployed as the the OCPD Samburu East, in Samburu county, was arrested after two police motor vehicles registration numbers GKA 237Y Toyota Land cruiser and Isuzu FTS lorry registration number GKB 870T, were found at his residence on September, 27, 2022, loaded to the brim 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.
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