Two people have been arrested, and more than 52 stolen phones and laptops recovered in a sting operation in Mlolongo, Machakos County.
The two were arrested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives attached to the Mlolongo police station.
A senior DCI operative aware of the operations told the Star that the suspects were arrested on February 2 and 3, 2022, following ongoing intelligence operations to rid criminals involved in bank fraud, cybercrime and theft of phones and laptops in Mlolongo and its environs.
The detective, who sought anonymity, said the criminals operate within Nairobi town, Mlolongo, Athi River and Kitengela town in Kajiado County.
Both the suspects were arrested in their hideouts within Mlolongo town. Police believe the two are part of the syndicate involved in criminal activities in the area.
“Jointly with our DCI counterparts from Kitengela police station, we conducted an operation that led to the arrest of the two suspects and recovery of the mobile phones and laptops,” the detective said.
The two suspects are being held at Kitengela police station awaiting to be arraigned.
The detective said the duo will be arraigned in Kajiado law courts to answer charges of mobile phones and laptops theft and other crimes allegedly committed in Machakos and Kajiado counties.
He said some victims claimed the suspects were violent and had forcibly transferred money from their bank accounts through mobile banking applications.
“One of the suspects operates a cyber café in Mlolongo town and has been in court several times over related charges. We first recovered 22 mobile phones before finding 30 others and laptops. This was after n interrogation with the first suspect. Most of the mobile phones are used for receiving money and stealing from the public,” the sleuth said.
The detective said the suspects would be paraded for identification by the victims they allegedly robbed them of their valuables.
“Once we are done with our investigations, we will subject them to an identification parade,” he said.
He said they were hunting more suspects to curtail the syndicate and recover more stolen gadgets and other valuables.
He called on Kenyans who had lost their phones and laptops to visit Mlolongo and Kitengela police stations and check if their phones and laptops were among those recovered last week.
