Following reported cases of coffee theft in Kimimini, Trans Nzoia County, detectives have launched a crackdown that has led to the arrest of a prime suspect and the seizure of a significant cache of stolen coffee.
The criminal spree reached its peak on the night of November 25, 2025, when a mob of around 50 thugs, armed with pangas, stormed the premises of Sowek Kenya Company Limited in Waitakuk.
Their bold approach involved slicing through the barbed wire fence, binding two security guards with ropes, and mercilessly assaulting them before vanishing into the night with the guards’ phones and a bounty of nine beds of drying coffee.
Just a day earlier, in a brazen heist at Kiungani Coffee Growers Cooperative Society, a group of armed men executed a similarly shocking theft.
They infiltrated the parchment drying section after digging a hole through the brick wall, vanishing with approximately 25 bags each weighing 50 kg of precious P1 coffee parchment.
Thanks to crucial forensic leads, detectives launched a well-coordinated crackdown.
It wasn’t long before they apprehended a key suspect, Gregory Kingasia Wekesa, who had been notorious for purchasing coffee from dubious sources without any authorisation.
Detectives found Kingasia in possession of 18 bags of coffee beans totalling around 1,800 kg, five bags weighing about 500 kg stashed inside his home, and an additional 13 bags weighing approximately 1,300 kg left outside to dry in the sun.
The suspect is now in custody at Kimimini Police Station alongside the recovered coffee as authorities prepare for his arraignment.
