The High Court has ordered the forfeiture of a motor vehicle to the state after ruling it was used to traffic narcotic drugs.
Justice Joseph Biomdo of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Division in Nairobi allowed an Originating Motion dated March 9, 2026, filed by the Assets Recovery Agency in a civil forfeiture battle against Miriam Omwoso Aywa.
The case centred on a Toyota Vitz, which police intercepted on June 10, 2022, at the Kenol area along the Embu-Nairobi highway.
“Upon conducting a search, officers recovered three bales of dry plant material wrapped in yellow sellotape, weighing approximately 18 kilogrammes, concealed inside the trunk,” the court heard.
“The recovered substance was tested and confirmed to be cannabis sativa… At the time of the interception, the vehicle was occupied by two individuals: Kevin Makuli Vinyenye, who was driving, and the respondent.
The two were arrested and charged with trafficking.
“According to the applicant, further investigations revealed that the respondent is a habitual drug tracker, having been separately charged with the offence of tracking in narcotics in March 2025.”
Further, the agency sought a declaration that the vehicle was an instrumentality and proceeds of crime liable for forfeiture under the Proceeds of Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Act (POCAMLA).
“Forensic analysis of the respondent’s bank accounts held at Equity Bank Limited and Cooperative Bank revealed suspicious cash inflows and outflows amounting to Sh2,056,900 between January 2021 and October 2022 in the Equity Bank account and a further Sh3,522,600 in the respondent’s Cooperative Bank account between February 2021 and October 2022.
“It is the applicant’s case that in the absence of evidence by the respondent of any lawful income generating ventures of activities, there is strong evidence that these funds are proceeds of crime used to acquire and offset the balance on the subject motor vehicle.”
Aywa opposed the suit, maintaining she was an innocent owner who had lawfully acquired the vehicle through a hire-purchase agreement in October 2020.
She told the court she obtained the vehicle using “clean, legitimate and hard-earned resources" drawn from personal savings, lawful trading enterprises and a family soft loan.
She maintained that on the material day the vehicle was under the exclusive operational control and management of Vinyenye, whom she had entrusted with the vehicle strictly for domestic errands, and that she was an innocent owner protected under Section 92 of POCAMLA.
She argued the forfeiture was premature, overly punitive and calculated to occasion a miscarriage of justice while her criminal trial remained pending.
Justice Biomdo found the proceeds-of-crime was unproven, holding that "no evidence was provided linking the funds to any criminal enterprise or activity, or that the said funds were used to acquire the said motor vehicle”.
However, on instrumentality, he ruled; "The applicant has proved on a balance of probabilities that motor vehicle was directly used and functional in the commission of the offence of trafficking in narcotic drugs."
Addressing the innocent-owner defence, the judge ruled that because the respondent was inside the car with 18 kilograms of cannabis during the interception, an overwhelming presumption existed that Aywa knew about the illicit cargo.
He found that she failed to prove she was unaware of the crime, characterising the incident as a joint operation by both occupants.
The court declared the vehicle an instrumentality of crime and ordered its forfeiture to the state.
It then directed the director general of the National Transport and Safety Authority to transfer registration to the agency and awarded costs to the applicant.
