30 supermarket employees caught repackaging poisonous sugar

Police have seized an unknown number of bags of illegal sugar in a warehouse in Ol Kalou town, Nyandarua County.

Following the Sunday afternoon raid, police said they found 30 employees of a local supermarket repackaging the sugar in branded plastic bags.

The sugar was in bags marked “Note for Sale. For industrial use only” and showed that it was imported from Brazil and another from India.

“The bags are clearly labelled for industrial use only. That is why we have decided to take over the premises until investigations are done,” said Danson Nduri, Central Regional CID.

The warehouse, now under tight security, is said to be leased to Jamaa Supermarket whose thirty employees were found repackaging the sugar.

According to police, the sugar was transported to the go down on Saturday night.

The sugar marked as unsafe for human consumption has so far been nabbed in at least five other counties with several suspects having been arrested and charged over the same.

An analysis by the government chemist on more than 1,000 bags of contraband sugar seized recently found dangerous levels of mercury and copper.

Sting operations conducted separately at Beder Stores in Nairobi’s Eastleigh and Paleah Stores along the Eastern bypass in Ruiru seized 1,365 bags of industrial sugar.

Mercury has adverse effects on the human body such as complications on the nervous and digestive systems, weakening of the immune systems, kidney failure and also causes cancer.

Copper, on the other hand, causes nausea, bloody diarrhea, low blood pressure anaemia and heart complications.

“They are killing us because they are selling poison to all of us… and none of us is safe,” Interior CS Fred Matiang’i said.

The CS further cited several arrests made and others looming, adding that those found responsible will be prosecuted according to the law