Detectives sustain crackdown on receivers of stolen mobile phones in Nairobi
In the ongoing crackdown to curb mobile phone theft and the sinister networks behind it across the country, detectives launched an all-out manhunt for receivers of stolen mobile phones.
Through forensic trails, detectives launched a targeted raid, pursuing a notorious receiver of stolen devices, namely Silas Kivyatu.
This man is believed to be a key player in the theft ring, with two of his accomplices already apprehended last week, where a cache of stolen mobile phones destined for the Ugandan market was seized.
Detectives set their sights on Silas, trailing him to his hideout in California, within Kamukunji Sub-County.
However, as fate would have it, Silas sensed the officer’s presence and made a hasty escape on a motorbike, slipping through the detective’s fingers like a wisp of smoke.
Yet luck was not entirely out of the detectives’ favour. In his frantic escape, he dropped a black carrier bag containing three neatly wrapped packages, each wrapped in yellow cellotape.
When the detectives opened the packages, they found them to contain 62 assorted stolen mobile phones, a testament to the scale of Silas’s operations.
The recovered devices have since been secured as exhibits.
Meanwhile, detectives continue to pursue the elusive suspect and his remaining accomplices, who are still at large.
Through sustained, intelligence-led operations, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) remains unwavering in its commitment to dismantle mobile phone theft syndicates by targeting not only the thieves but also the receivers who fuel this criminal enterprise.
Elsewhere, in the ongoing crackdown on narcotics trafficking, detectives from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) and the Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU) arrested a Kasarani man who had turned a butchery into a clandestine drug outlet.
The suspect, Paul Mwangi Karanja, operator of East Butchery in Marurui area, was apprehended after detectives acted on credible intelligence indicating that the premises was being used as a front to peddle cannabis while flying under the radar.
A raid of the butchery led to the recovery of a sizeable haul of narcotics, including 81 rolls of bhang, 18 cookies, 13 sim-sim rolls and five small mabuyu containers, all laced with cannabis, an elaborate attempt to beat the system and evade detection.
During the operation, detectives also arrested a delivery rider, Willinton Nadwa, who was caught red-handed delivering 14 rolls of bhang at the premises.
In a similar operation, ANU detectives acting on further intelligence intercepted a Nairobi-bound matatu along the Nakuru–Nairobi Highway at a roadblock mounted in Limuru, Kiambu County.
A thorough search of passengers led to the arrest of Judith Faith Oriende, who was found in possession of a brown suitcase containing three packages of bhang, neatly wrapped in yellow cellotape.
All the suspects are currently in custody, undergoing processing pending arraignment. This comes amid renewed war on narcotics in the country.