Police recover fake US dollars, arrest suspect in operation in Lucky Summer

Detectives from Lucky Summer Police Station, Nairobi netted a key suspect believed to be the brains behind a counterfeit currency racket in Nairobi, seizing a sizable haul of fake US dollars in the process.

Acting on intelligence, the officers set their sights on a white Toyota Prado suspected of ferrying the fake US currency on Monday December 22, 2025. With a keen eye, they intercepted the vehicle in the Lucky Summer area and arrested the man behind the wheel, 38-year-old Felix Nyegesa.

A search of the Prado raised more red flags. Hidden in the boot was a locked metallic blue box. When asked to open it, Nyegesa played hardball, flatly refusing to cooperate. Unwilling to let sleeping dogs lie, the officers ordered him to drive straight to the police station for further grilling.

At the station, the mystery box finally gave up its secrets. Inside were sixty-eight bundles, each packed with 100 counterfeit US dollar notes.

Also recovered inside the box were cartons, newspapers, cotton wool, sand and stones, police said.

Nyegesa was detained for processing pending arraignment as detectives dig deeper to unravel the full extent of the syndicate.

He is believed to be part of a larger cartel operating in Nairobi in fake gold and dollars.

This is the latest such an arrest to take place amid operations on gold scammers in the country.

Police say most of the suspects behind the incidents have been arrested and arraigned and their cases remain active in courts.

The operations have been mounted in the past years after many foreigners complained they had been scammed in the city.

Nairobi was increasingly turning to be the hub for fake gold deals, which prompted the operations.

Police say they have dozens of cases of complaints from foreigners who say they had been conned by Kenyans pretending to be selling gold.

In efforts to address such incidents, the DCI had asked embassies in the country to join the fight against the vice by urging them to advise their nationals engaged in trade to follow procedures.

“We urge the Embassies (High Commissions) to advise their nationals coming in for business to be apprised of con business of gold going on in the country and first contact the Department of Mines and Geology for the procedure that pertains to buying and selling of gold and other precious metals,” the DCI said.