Police in Kiambu county have arrested eight people suspected to be stealing cows in Nyanduma ward within Lari subcounty and selling them to neighbouring areas.
Lari subcounty deputy police commander Joshua Opondo said they also recovered four cows which had been stolen.
Police recovered three cows in the process of being sold, one was recovered at Muundoro village in the neighbouring subcounty of Gatundu North.
The police boss said the suspects who were arrested, were a couple and their two sons, their neighbour, a handler, a broker and a buyer.
"We spent the whole day on Sunday following up on them. We followed leads until we arrested the eight suspects and recovered the animals," he said.
Speaking during a phone interview Monday, Opondo said the suspects will be arraigned facing charges of animal theft.
This followed residents reporting that a gang was stealing their cows only to sell them at a throw away price away.
"Recently, one cow belonging to our neighbour was stolen. It was worth approximately Sh150,000 and we later learnt that it was sold at Sh50,000" Naomi Wanjiku said.
Wanjiku asked the police to beef up security and patrols to tame the thefts, adding that the dairy cows are their source of income.
Area MP Mburu Kahangara thanked the police for acting swiftly upon receiving the report.
Kahangara also encouraged residents to keep informing the police about animal theft so that they can come up with a strategy of eliminating the vice.
Opondo said the region had been calm without cases of theft, warning of dire consequences for anyone planning on enriching themselves with their neighbours' property.
"We are warning those people planning to steal their neighbours cows or any other property that we are alert," he said.
"We have noted there is a group of up coming criminals stealing cows worth over Sh100,000 and selling them away."
"We have set strategies to tame the vice. We shall succeed to stop it, let them be advised to look for something else to do before arrest them. We are following up on them" the police boss warned.
-Edited by SKanyara
