Security officers have discovered a large bhang plantation estimated to be worth Sh60 million during an operation in Mwingi Central, along the Tana River in Kiomo Kyethani Ward. The operation was carried out in Kakongo Village, Kairungu Location, following intelligence received by the authorities. Officers from the National Police Service and National Government Administration Officers found the illegal crop growing across about three acres, where it had been mixed with food crops. With assistance from members of the public, the officers uprooted the plants and transported them to Mwingi Police Station. The bhang was later weighed and found to total about 2,000 kilograms, with its estimated street value placed at Sh60 million. Authorities also recovered equipment believed to have been used to maintain the plantation. The items included seven solar panels, five petrol-powered water pumps, six jembes, four pangas, two weighing scales, two fork jembes, two hacksaws, a solar control unit, solar accessories and 30 kilograms of CAN fertiliser. The suspected cultivators escaped before they could be arrested, although officers recovered personal documents believed to belong to some of them. Detectives from the National Anti-Narcotics Investigations Bureau in Mwingi Central are continuing investigations as they seek to identify and apprehend those behind the large-scale cultivation.