On Sunday, police in Marsabit seized 50kg of bhang being transported in a private car in the Butiye area of Moyale Sub-County.

According to Marsabit county police commander Robinson Mboloi, the narcotics, with a street value of Sh1.5 million, were impounded in a saloon car at 11.30 a.m.

"We impounded 50 stones of bhang this mid-morning during one of our officers' routine searches at a roadblock," Mr Mboloi said.

When the police officers tried to flag him down, the driver of the vehicle attempted to get around the Moyale police roadblock by making a U-turn.

The officers pursued the driver, forcing him to abandon the vehicle and leave behind his turn boy, an Ethiopian national who was arrested.

Mr. Mboloi stated that when police officers searched the vehicle, they discovered 50 stones of bhang, each weighing one kilo.

The shipment was reportedly being transported to other parts of the country via the Moyale-Isiolo highway.

Only three weeks ago, police in the region seized 64 bags of bhang weighing 2,394.7kg and valued at Sh45 million in the Dambalafachana area.

A lorry driver was apprehended on one of the area's subsidiary roads in Moyale sub-county.

Police said they were treating the recent incidents as isolated incidents, following a long lull after several arrests were made along the highway last year.

Mr. Mboloi claimed that they were on high alert to ensure that no narcotics entered the country through the country's porous borders.

No arrests were made in the Dambalafachana incident because the driver of the lorry, which was believed to be headed to Marsabit, fled.

Rukia Warre Ali, the wife of Marsabit Governor, advised the youth against using drugs on Friday, urging the county's youth to avoid drug and substance abuse in order to exercise their democratic right on Tuesday and elect good leaders who would advance their interests.

Marsabit Women Advocacy and Development Organization (MWADO) CEO Nurria Golloh made a similar appeal, pointing out that drugs and substance abuse were likely to spark violence on election day.

Marsabit county governor Mohamud Ali pledged last week while outlining his policies and manifesto for re-election, to build two rehabilitation centers across the county if re-elected.

Several organizations, including NACADA, have also expressed concern about the county's drug addiction and how it was quickly becoming a tragedy.

The incident also occurs against the backdrop of local leaders' passionate appeals to the youth to abstain from drug and substance abuse during the August 9 elections.