Shisha Crackdown: 48 People Arrested As NACADA Officers Raid Mombasa Homes

Officers from the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) in collaboration with police officers arrested 48 people in Nyali, Mombasa County on Saturday night, January 14 following a raid mounted on residential houses and shisha dens.

The suspects were arrested in the sting operation aimed at weeding out the illegal consumption and selling of shisha in Kenya.

During the crackdown, police seized 47 shisha bongs and more than 700 ingredients used to make the drug from the houses and dens which will be used as evidence.

According to NACADA officials, the shisha ingredients will be presented to government chemists for tests.

Several shisha pots were recovered during a raid in Mombasa County on January 13, 2024. /WACHIRA MWANGI

The operation had targeted residential areas turned into shisha smoking zones, which are hideouts in the Nyali area.

In one of the shisha smoking clubs, 29 men including the manager of the hideout and nine women were arrested. The club was found to be operating with an expired licence for a bar and restaurant dated back to 2017, the same year the government banned shisha for the first time.

In another hideout, seven men and three women were apprehended, although several other revellers escaped. 

NACADA CEO Anthony Omerikwa vowed to mount similar raids in the country with increased frequency to free many young people who have ventured into shisha addictions.

He added that the two sites will be treated as crime scenes.

“If the contents are determined, the suspects’ charges will be updated. For now, they will remain apprehended and will be at the cells awaiting arraignment in court on Monday,” he told the media while urging proprietors to operate their establishments within the law.

“We will not relent as a multi-agency to ensure that the law is fully complied with. We will make sure that alcohol and drug abuse is diminished in the country. There are criminal enterprises in Nyali and other places where young people are being inducted into alcohol and drug abuse, which must come to an end.”

Omerikwa added that the crackdown was the very first step in a long journey that he affirmed was being carried out professionally, ensuring the safety of both the revellers and the officers involved.

“It is in the interest of the government that such illegal activities are clamped. As Nacada we will not relent until our society is free from Alcohol and Drug abuse,” Omerikwa added.

A similar crackdown was mounted on Friday, January 5 by NACADA, however, this exercise saw bouncers working at Kettle House Bar and Grill in Nairobi attacked and injured journalists drawn from several media houses.

Police officers who accompanied the journalists to arrest club managers and patrons for allegedly smoking shisha led the operation that saw 30 shisha bongs confiscated and 21 people including the club manager arrested.