City Affairs

40 in court for possession of adulterated diesel

Justice John Onyiego of the Garissa High Court said the sentence included the three years and seven months that Noor Ahmed Ismail was in custody during the trial. (Photo: EV)

By Joseph Ndunda | Monday, April 15, 2024

It is suspected that the fuel was syphoned from oil transport tankers and was being kept for buyers, mainly cartels involved in the illegal business.

Forty people arrested while allegedly hawking adulterated diesel along Lunga Lunga Road in Industrial Area, Nairobi, were charged on Monday with illegal handling and possession of petroleum products.

The 40 were charged with violating Section 99 (1) (e) as read with Section 99 (1) of the Petroleum Act of 2019.

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They faced an additional charge of storing adulterated petroleum in contravention of Section 92 (2) (b) of the Act, for handling 600 litres of adulterated diesel.

The accused persons allegedly stored the adulterated diesel in 200-litre drums in the area before their arrest.

It is suspected that the fuel was syphoned from oil transport tankers in the area and was being kept for buyers, mainly cartels involved in the illegal business.

The 40 denied the charges before Makadara Senior Resident Magistrate Mercy Malingu and pleaded for lenient bail and bond terms through their advocates.

They were each released on Sh100,000 bond, with a surety of the same amount, or Sh30,000 cash bail in the case that will be mentioned on April 18, 2024.

Officers from the Operations Support Unit (OSU) of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), who were involved in the arrest, and officials of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPPRA) are listed as witnesses in the case.

The DCI had said that the operation by OSU officials netted five tankers, 17,020 litres of diesel, 6,110 litres of petrol, four generators, 30 drums, syphoning pipes and jerrycans from the alleged syphoning site.

The DCI also said that some tankers suspected to have contained stolen petroleum products were held at the scene pending investigations by the EPRA and other agencies.