Shisha Crackdown: 2 Arrested As Police, NACADA, DCI Raid Kasarani Nightclub
The city operation was led by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) in conjunction with officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Kenya Police.
Marvin Chege 
Two suspects were on Tuesday night, March 19 arrested during a multi-agency operation that saw 109 shisha bongs seized at Alfakher Lounge in Mirema Drive, Kasarani area.
The city operation was led by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) in conjunction with officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Kenya Police.
The two suspects namely Patricia Wanza and Asmelder Wambui were apprehended in the operation which stretched into the early hours of Wednesday morning, March 20.
Alfakher Lounge where some of the shisha pots that were recovered in Mirema on March 19, 2024. /HANDOUT
According to a police report seen by Viral Tea, among other contraband goods seized in the crackdown include 50 alfakher flavours (gums with mint flavour), 170 pieces of flavour al-sultan, 400 coconut charcoal pieces and 16 charcoal carriers.
Others are 140 orange mint alfakher flavours, 29 blueberry mint flavours, 50 grape mint flavours and other items used in consuming shisha.
The suspects will remain in police custody at Kasarani Police Station awaiting further action.
NACADA has since December 2023 intensified its crackdown on curbing the sale and consumption of shisha products.
Over 60 raids have been conducted in clubs and party joints located in Nairobi and Mombasa, a matter that has led to the government closing 80 establishments over the sale of the banned product in the latest operations.
Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo earlier insisted that the ban on shisha remains in effect. Shisha smoking, also known as water pipe, hookah, or hubble-bubble, was outlawed in Kenya in 2017.
Earlier this month, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki declared the advertisement, promotion, or distribution of the same as illegal with immediate effect.
"The importation, manufacture, sale, use, advertisement, promotion or distribution of shisha is outlawed in the country, any establishment found in breach of this provision will be shut down with immediate effect," Kindiki said.
