First Secretary at the British High Commission to Kenya, Waqar Qureshi, who witnessed the exercise, said the vehicles had been stolen from owners in the UK.
The Kenya Revenue Authority has seized five high-end motor vehicles worth millions that were smuggled through the port from the United Kingdom.
They are; A Range Rover Vogue, Range Rover Sport, BMW 530D, BMW x5, and Volkswagen Tiguan.
It is believed that the vehicles, which were stolen between 2018 and 2019, were inscribed with chassis numbers of other vehicles which have not been reported to circumvent border control systems.
In a press statement on Friday, KRA’s Regional Coordinator Kenneth Ochola said two motorbikes were also part of the seizure.
Ochola said the vehicles which had been declared as being on transit to Uganda were intercepted following joint operation between Kenya, UK and the international police security agents.
“...they were seized after a verification process that was conducted on Thursday at Focus Container Freight Station in Mombasa,"he said.
First Secretary at the British High Commission to Kenya, Waqar Qureshi, who witnessed the exercise, said the vehicles had been stolen from owners in the UK.
He assured that the UK will work with its Kenyan counterparts to re-ship them.
In the documentation, the cargo was shipped from the Port of Jabel Ali, and the consignor was Jason Abayomi from London.
The consignor’s address was flat 15, 145 Seymour Place Mary Lesbone, while the consignee was listed as Kwizera Gilbert Jimmy of Entebbe Kampala.
Shipping documents for the container loaded with the BMW x5 and the Volkswagen Tiguan indicated that the cargo was shipped from the Port of Antwerpen and the consignor was Belgo Malienne NV AS, while the consignee was Vumilia Investments Uganda.
The investigation team confirmed that the Range Rover Sport was stolen on 23rd March last year, while the Range Rover Vogue on 5th May the same year.
Further, the BMW 530D model was stolen on 8th May in 2019, while the BMW x5 on 6th June 2019 and the motor cycles were stolen on 12th April and 13th May 2019 respectively.
Only the Volkswagen Tiguan was stolen on 7th December in 2018.
“Smuggling of high-end vehicles diverted to the Kenyan local market hurts the local motor-vehicle industry. Further, proceeds from the illegal business are believed to be responsible for funding organized crime,” added Ochola.