Police arrested two individuals believed to be behind a spate of robberies while wielding pangas and using a motorcycle as their mode of transport in Mombasa.
Mohammed Ibrahim Shaban, 22 years and Abdulaziz Ali Ogutu, 19 years were smoked out of their hide out at Utange village from where they were planning their next attack, police said.
The duo is believed to be behind a series of panga attacks including a violent robbery resulting in a fatal incident on July 18, 2024.
They are also linked to three separate robberies on September 14, 2024, in Majengo, Makupa and Tononoka.
A search of their residence resulted to recovery of several items including a panga, three knives, two assorted mobile phones, two back packs, an ID card belonging to Yusuf Amani Yusuf among other items.
Their arrest came on Tuesday after a CCTV footage that captured their attacks on September 14, 2024 was widely shared online.
The Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin said the public helped get the suspects and they will face robbery with violence charges.
Amin sent a stern warning to would-be criminals that no resources will be spared in the fight against their unlawful ways.
Meanwhile, a multi-agency team of law enforcers supported by other government and non-government agencies and operating under Operation Usalama – Coast region completed a four-day operation that targeted drug dens in Kengeleni, Magodoroni and Shanzu areas, Kisumu Ndogo, Sea breeze within Malindi township and Timboni area in Watamu.
The team registered significant success in the war on narcotic drugs.
During the operation, several suspects including a juvenile and an army officer were arrested and narcotic drugs seized.
The drugs include heroin, marijuana, diazepam among others.
In the fight against counterfeit goods, the multi-agency team visited several shops where a search was conducted and counterfeited sportswear was recovered.
From Prijas sports house located at Mwembe Tayari and operated by Susan Kadzo Mulewa, the team recovered 27 pieces of assorted counterfeited sportswear.
Another search was conducted at Champions Style Sports shop located at China mall along Digo road and operated by Abubakar Khalif where 204 pieces of assorted counterfeited sports wear were recovered.
In another operation targeting individuals dealing in counterfeited books, the multi-agency team in the company of representatives from various publishing houses visited and inspected several bookshops.
At a bookshop within Mwembe Tayari and operated by Khadija Ali and Buda Abdala, seven different series of books were positively identified by the publishers to have been counterfeited and in contravention of copyright rules.
The team also conducted an inspection/search at various CFS and Motor vehicle showrooms which was led by Interpol where over 100 vehicles were inspected but none was found to have been blacklisted as stolen from within or outside the country.
Operation Usalama is the brainchild of The Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Cooperation (EAPCCO), a regional police body whose membership consists of Chiefs of Police of the 14 countries and the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (SARPCCO) which is principally responsible for the prevention and combating of Cross-border and Transnational Organised Crimes.
The operation was necessitated as a result of the recognition by the Chiefs of police of both regions of the threats posed by transnational crimes including Motor vehicle theft, Narcotic drugs, Trafficking in persons (TIP) /Smuggling of Migrants (SOM), proliferation of small arms and light weapons, terrorism and fugitive tracking, smuggling of minerals, counterfeit and illicit goods and the need to co-operate in the fight against cross- border and transnational crimes that afflict the two regions.
The two regional bodies have in the past successfully organized five simultaneous operations code-named Usalama 1-IX in both regions in 2013 – 2023 in the fight against transnational crimes within the two regions.
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