•Central police subcounty commander Mark Wanjala says 525 mobile phones, the majority being smartphones were recovered from a shop in Muthurwa
•The incident happened a few days after police recovered 243 TV sets in a strenuous operation at a residential house in Ukunda Court, Buruburu Phase 4, Nairobi, on January 4.
Directorate of Criminal Investigations detectives have launched a probe into an incident where three suspects were nabbed and 525 mobile phones recovered in Nairobi.
Nairobi regional police boss Philip Ndolo said the trio was nabbed and items recovered in a joint crackdown conducted by the DCI and officers based at Kamkunji police station on Sunday morning.
“Our officers netted three suspects and recovered over 500 mobile phones at a shop within Moroto, along Jogoo Road this morning,” Ndolo said.
The police boss spoke to the Star on the phone a few hours after the operation.
Central police subcounty commander Mark Wanjala said 525 mobile phones, the majority being smartphones, were recovered from a shop in Muthurwa.
Ndolo said the officers conducted the operation following a tip-off from the public that the suspects could be selling stolen phones in the shop.
“The officers had been informed by members of the public that certain people were selling mobile phones in the shop. They were in pursuit of information on notorious stolen mobile phone dealers in the city,” Ndolo added.
He said the three were arrested after they failed to give a proper account of all the phones in their possession.
The trio will be arraigned on Monday (today) and will be charged with being in possession of stolen property contrary to Section 323 of the Penal Code.
The incident happened a few days after police recovered 243 TV sets in a strenuous operation at a residential house in Ukunda Court, Buruburu Phase 4, Nairobi, on January 4.
The items were stolen from a Godown located along Mombasa Road in Syokimau, Machakos, on December 1, 2019.
Ndolo lauded the public for cooperating with the police in volunteering intelligence information leading to arrests and more recovery of stolen items alongside combating crime in the city and its environs.
On December 28, 10 people were arrested and 149 mobile phones recovered by police in a similar crackdown.
“We got information from the public that the suspects were operating around Mang Hotel in Racecourse and moved to the area and made some arrests and recoveries,” Central Police sub-county police boss Mark Wanjala said.
The police raided six stalls in the area. “We raided six stalls, recovered 149 mobile phones, 150 dismantled phones, five laptops and arrested 10 suspects,” Wanjala said.
He said some of the suspects were foreigners. They will all be arraigned today.
Wanjala urged those who might have lost their phones and laptops to visit Central police station and check if theirs are among those recovered.
Seven suspects were seized in Kayole on October 26. They had 262 stolen phones and several laptops. Also recovered were computers and electronic accessories.
The swoops were led by Kayole and Kamukunji police stations bosses Wilson Kosgei and Stanley Atavachi respectively.
Atavachi said separately that they recovered 154 mobile phones, two laptops and one tablet from accessories in shops on Mfangano and Ronald Ngala streets.
From Kayole, police recovered 108 assorted and expensive smartphones and a laptop alongside two electronic gadgets used to flush out phones' memories.