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A man was on Monday, February 21 charged with being in possession of alcoholic drinks affixed with counterfeit excise duty stamps at the Nyeri Law Courts.

According to court documents, James Nguthoko Maina was arrested by police from Karatina Police Station on Thursday, February 10 while transporting the alcohol drinks.

‘On 10th February, 2022 a team of KRA officers were contacted by Karatina Police Station following an interception and arrest of the suspect who was ferrying the assorted alcoholic drinks aboard vehicle registration number KAU 113K, Toyota Corolla,’ the police charge sheet read in part.

After the arrest, the suspect led police officers to a house in Rafina Area in Mathira East sub-county in Nyeri County where they recovered two drums of ethanol, each of 200 litres, rolls of counterfeit KRA Excise stamps, assorted plastic bottle caps and assorted bottle tops.

On Monday, Maina and others not before court were charged with Being in possession of excisable goods affixed with counterfeit excise stamps contrary to section 28 of the Excise Duty Act, 2015 as read with Regulation 30(1)(g) of the Excise Duty (Excisable Goods Management Systems) Regulations, 2017

‘The accused was also charged with being in possession of uncustomed goods contrary to section 200 (d) (iii) of the East African Community Customs Management Act, 2004,’ the court documents read in part.

The accused was released on a cash bail of Ksh50,000 or a bond of Ksh1 million. The pretrial is set for 22 March, 2022.