- The vehicles suspected to have been stolen from Lang’ata and Jogoo road among other parts of Nairobi were recovered in Athi River on Wednesday.
- The recoveries were made during a joint operation conducted by officers from the National Police Service and their Directorate of Criminal Investigations counterparts from Lang’ata, Nairobi area and Athi River.
Image: GEORGE OWITI
Five vehicles have been recovered as police intensified their crackdown on a car theft syndicate in Nairobi and its environs.
The vehicles suspected to have been stolen from Lang’ata and Jogoo road among other parts of Nairobi were recovered in Athi River on Wednesday.
The recoveries were made during a joint operation conducted by officers from the National Police Service and their Directorate of Criminal Investigations counterparts from Lang’ata, Nairobi area and Athi River.
A fielder that had been stolen from an apartment in Athi River, Machakos County early Monday at 3.00 am was among the recovered vehicle.
The owner lost the vehicle after it was driven off by a stranger from the parking outside his residence the previous day.
The car’s tracker was deactivated immediately after it was stolen.
The car’s theft was reported to the Athi River police station prompting DCI detectives to immediately launch a search for it.
Detectives probing the incident said one of the vehicles was yet to be identified by the owner since nobody had claimed it.
The officers stumbled on the five vehicles hidden in an idle parcel of land next to some residences within the Katani location in Athi River East, Machakos County.
They had been trailing a Toyota Wish car that had been stolen from an estate along Jogoo Road in Nairobi County on January 19, 2024.
The scene of recovery, now labelled scene of crime is near a dumping site and surrounded by multiple quarries.
A prime suspect who owns one of the residences and is said to have been vandalizing the vehicles when the officers busted him escaped the dragnet.
He vanished after he noticed the police presence and was still on the run by press time.
“We had been trailing one of the vehicles, of Toyota Wish make, which had been reported to Nairobi Area police station only to recover the five vehicles including the targeted car,” a detective privy to the investigations told the Star on Thursday.
The sources said all the vehicles were in the process of being vandalized and modified when they were recovered.
They all had their number plates, bumpers and ignitions changed.
The vehicles according to the officers had fake registration number plates fixed on them with their original registration numbers missing.
One of the cars had a registration number belonging to a trailer according to a search conducted at NTSA by the detectives.
“The complainants were called to identify their vehicles at SNP Police station within Athi River East subcounty police command. They managed to positively identify them after confirming chase numbers due to the vandalism on modifications,” a source said.
He said the Toyota Wish car owner also recovered his Bible that was in the car when it went missing.
The Bible was found thrown on the road near the vehicles. The owner identified both the car and the Bible.
“Owners could not easily recognize their vehicles due to the modifications, some of the doors had also been changed. For instance, the vehicle stolen from Athi River had a mismatch between the fake registration number mounted on it and the registration number on its doors. The owner had also to confirm its chase number to identify it,” he said.
The vehicles included a Toyota fielder, Toyota Wish, Mazda Demio and Honda CRV.
They all had their tracking devices deactivated apart from the Toyota Wish.
Both the vehicles stolen from Jogoo Road and Lang’ata were towed to the respective police stations where they had been reported missing as investigations into the incidents continue.
Athi River DCI is also handling the case earlier reported at the station on January 22, 2023, at about 4.50 am.
A vehicle belonging to the prime suspect fled the scene and another whose owner claimed hadn’t been stolen was found at the scene where others had been recovered were impounded at SNP police station.
Elsewhere in Busia County, some suspects are said to have been arrested after police intercepted a car suspected to have been stolen in Nairobi.
Police said the vehicle bearing a suspected fake registration number was impounded and its occupants were arrested while en route to Uganda.
An officer said the suspects were arrested before they crossed the Kenya – Uganda border.
“Suspects arrested after they were intercepted in Western Kenya are said to be part of this car theft syndicate. They are being brought back to Nairobi,” he said.
The joint operations are ongoing as police hunt those involved in car theft syndicates in Nairobi City and its environs.