BY CORRESPONDENT.
Businessmen arrested in Eastleigh Nairobi with 1400 bags of counterfeit sugar want an order putting them behind bars overturned.
They want the high court to release them on bail.
Dahir Ahmed Hassan, Mohammed Dahir and Ahmed Sheikh Mohammed have asked the high court to review the decision by Nairobi Senior Principal Magistrate Martha Mutuku who ordered they be detained for 10 days to allow police complete investigations.
The three claim that the alleged counterfeit goods they were arrested with are in police custody and they can’t interfere with them.
They allege that the sugar has not been tested to establish that it is harmful for human consumption.
Senior Principal Magistrate Martha Mutuku noted that the case is unique and involve a fast selling commodity which is on demand and highly consumed by human, hence risking human life.
The magistrate agreed with the police averment that they need to trace places where the commodity has been supplied so as to recall it and as search they will need cooperation and presence of the respondents.
It is no longer business as usual in the war against #contraband.- @InteriorKE CS Dr. Fred Matiang'i pic.twitter.com/0S6Uz4xfzb
— National Police Service-Kenya (@NPSOfficial_KE) June 13, 2018
During the police swop, the suspects were found repackaging 1,474 bags of Brazillian Raw Sugar indicated not fit for direct human consumption into various local sugar companies packaging bags.
The recovered sugar is suspected to be extremely harmful to human health.
A Multi-agency team including counterfeit agency, Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Bureau of Standards, Government Chemist and office of the Director of Directorate of Public Prosecutions is conducting the swop.
Therefore most of these agencies require time for sampling and conducting analysis on the suspected unfit sugar.
The officer said that they are expanding their investigations to the port of Mombasa to authenticate the provided import documents and also visit the local sugar companies all over the country whose packaging bags were found being used by the respondents for collecting samples and statement recording.
Intelligence report according to the IO indicates that releasing the respondents at this stage may Jeorpodise investigations since there is likelihood of the respondents assisting and facilitating removal of the unfit for human consumption of raw sugar from the stores that they had supplied to.
Proceedings resume June 20 2018.
