A Nairobi court has ordered the detention of a woman accused of conspiring to steal 11 containers of bitumen valued at more than Sh19 million belonging to the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).
Senior Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo on Wednesday directed that Joy Naomi Jelimo be held at Capitol Hill Police Station for one day to enable the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to finalize inquiries.
The DCI’s Operations Support Unit, represented in court by Corporal Leonard Siele, stated that Jelimo was arrested in Eldoret in connection with the disappearance of a consignment shipped from Dubai by Richmond Mercantile Ltd and cleared through the Nairobi Inland Container Depot (ICD).
Investigators told the court that while 39 containers of bitumen were delivered to CRBC’s site along the Southern Bypass, 11 containers carrying 1,210 drums of the material never reached their destination.
The consignment, valued at USD 147,551.14 (approximately Sh19 million), had already accrued import taxes of about Sh6.2 million. According to police, the missing containers were allegedly collected from ICD by unidentified transporters and later returned empty to the shipping line.
Court documents indicated that when inquiries were made on July 4, 2025, one David believed to be involved in the logistics claimed the containers had been returned to the shipping line on time.
Police allege Jelimo conspired with other suspects, who are still at large, to divert the cargo. Upon her arrest, detectives reportedly recovered a mobile phone suspected to have been used to coordinate the scheme, along with several delivery notes.
The court heard that investigators are still analyzing the seized phone, verifying delivery notes, tracing additional suspects, and recording further witness statements before proceeding with the case.
