EPRA Raids Illegal Fuel Siphoning Den Near Nairobi Pipeline Depot But Suspects Escape Before Arrest

Kenya's Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority raided an illegal fuel siphoning site in Nairobi's Industrial Area on Friday recovering approximately 800 litres of stolen petroleum products. 

The operation was carried out by EPRA's surveillance and enforcement team working alongside the Energy Police Unit at Nadume Road off Lunga Lunga Road.

Officers seized rubber pipes, drums, an aluminium container and 20-litre jerrycans that were being used to siphon fuel illegally. 

The site sits dangerously close to Kenya Pipeline Company storage facilities and fuel depots making it a strategically placed operation that could have tapped directly into the country's main fuel distribution network.

However the suspects managed to escape before being arrested. EPRA said the criminals had informers who tipped them off about the police raid giving them enough time to flee the scene. 

The authority confirmed the site has since been secured and that a manhunt for those involved is underway. 

The bust comes at a particularly sensitive time for Kenya's fuel sector. The country is currently grappling with a major contaminated fuel scandal after nearly 12,000 metric tonnes of substandard petrol entered the market during March and April 2026.

The contaminated fuel arrived aboard a vessel called MT Paloma on March 27 and failed initial quality inspections. 

Despite that failure roughly 20 percent of the 60,000-tonne shipment was released into the supply chain through a government waiver that proved deeply controversial.

The Ministry of Trade reportedly authorised blending the substandard fuel with cleaner stocks but the directive came too late to stop a significant portion from reaching filling stations across the country and into the engines of unsuspecting motorists.

Laboratory tests confirmed the petrol contained manganese at 36.5 mg per kilogram which is more than 18 times the legal limit. 

Sulphur concentrations stood at 43 parts per million while benzene levels were nearly three times above the allowed threshold.

The Nadume Road raid therefore points to a fuel sector under severe stress from multiple angles — contaminated imports entering through official channels and stolen fuel being illegally siphoned and redistributed through criminal networks operating in plain sight near the country's most critical petroleum infrastructure.