Three suspects were arrested at Archers Post in Samburu County after they were found trafficking 196 kilograms of bhang valued at Sh5.9 million.
Police said the illegal substance was concealed beneath sacks of beans in a trailer that was headed for Nairobi from Moyale direction.
The route is notorious for trafficking narcotics, police say.
The arrests were made on Monday night as a lorry raced to Nairobi with the food.
The three suspects have been identified as 20-year-old Harun Mohammed Galgalo, 22-year-old Ali Abdikadir Mohammed, and the driver 34-year-old Isaack Mohammed Bakacha.
The suspects were arrested following a multi-agency operation that saw sniffer dogs discover the hidden drugs.
Police said that 66 bales of bhang were confiscated and have since been secured as exhibits.
“The vehicle has also been detained pending further investigations,” said police.
This is the latest such seizure to take place on the route.
Most of the bhang seized in the region originates in Ethiopia.
Moyale town, the largest of the trading centres stands out as the capital of contraband that includes smuggling of Kenya’s popular variety of bhang.
Apart from Moyale, other border points used by the crooks to smuggle in Ethiopian bhang include Sololo, Uran, Forolle, and Dukana.
Police say dealers use peddlers to bring the bhang into Kenya in small batches using unofficial or unpatrolled routes to smuggle in the contraband especially at night to these centres, with Moyale town accounting for more than 75 percent.
Light vehicles, boda-boda, donkey carts, and couriers are also used to sneak in the cargo undetected along the border.
It is from these centers that the bhang is transported to Nairobi using two different routes -the direct Moyale-Nairobi highway via Marsabit town and Isiolo and the unofficial route, a cutline that runs from Funannyata in Sololo to Yamicha plains of Merti sub-county in Isiolo.
More attention is being put on the route to stop the trend, police said.
The trade is vicious as at times smugglers use gunmen to transport the contraband.
3 Nabbed With 196 Kilos Of Bhang Valued At Sh5.9 Million On Nairobi-Moyale Highway, 3 Nabbed With 196 Kilos Of Bhang Valued At Sh5.9 Million On Nairobi-Moyale Highway
