Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), in collaboration with officials from Uganda and Interpol, on Friday succeeded in finding 7,420 sacks of magadi, equivalent to seven containers of the product, which had been stolen from an Indian businessman by international fraudsters.
The DCI says that the rescue operation that brought detectives to the Bweyogere Industrial Area in Kampala, Uganda, was initiated following a complaint by the concerned businessman, Surya Parkash.
Parkash had reported the delivery of 104 containers of the product, worth Ksh.267 million, to a fake company between December 12, 2022 and April 2023.
Caustic soda is used as a reagent in the laboratory and also as a cleaning agent.
“According to the complainant who flew to Kenya from India to submit his report to the DCI headquarters, five companies identified as Abbey Chemicals East Africa LTD, Innospec LTD, Akoki Investment Agency LTD, CJP Chemicals LTD and UNATRAL Free Zone SMC Uganda LTD , had ordered. for the cargo that was delivered through the port of Mombasa, between January 31, 2023 and May 15, 2023,” DCI said in a statement.
“But once the last container was unloaded at the port, the shippers who had not paid for the shipment went under, cutting off communication with the supplier.”
Efforts to find the rest and arrest the suspects involved are ongoing.