Counterfeit cigarette sellers arraigned in court

Five suspects were arraigned in a Limuru court Thursday and charged after they were arrested with 28 cartons of counterfeit cigarettes.

They were found at a village home in Limuru by administration police officers after a tip off from members of the public as they packed the cigarettes which had labels of local brands.

According to Limuru AP boss Michael Ndegwa, all the nabbed suspects were from Kangemi and Uthiru and colluded with a local who managed to flee during the raid.

The suspects were, however, released Limuru Principal Magistrate George Oduor on cash bail of 100,000 shillings each and ordered they appear in court on August 5th.

On September 21st 2012 the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) impounded and destroyed a cigarette consignment worth Ksh 43 million in Mombasa, as smugglers attempted to distribute it to unsuspecting consumers.

KRA’s Senior Assistant Commissioner Fatma Yusuf said that destroying the fake cigarettes would send a strong message to traders who engaged in smuggling of counterfeits to the country.

By Bernice Sila