- That enables the new users to handle the gadgets without being traced, police said.
- Such incidents are common in urban areas.
At least three Burundi nationals were arrested and 55 assorted stolen mobile phones were recovered from them in Kisii Town.
Detectives said they are pursuing more suspects over the issue.
Police said the three were mobile phone smugglers.
Police suspect the gadgets had been stolen elsewhere and were being collected for transportation to an unknown market and probably the neighbouring countries.
The mobile phones were believed to have been stolen from locals and other urban areas and probably were to be shipped to Burundi for a fresh market.
That enables the new users to handle the gadgets without being traced, police said.
Such incidents are common in urban areas.
Police say the stolen gadgets are sold to neighbouring countries and efforts to break the cartels are ongoing.
In Nairobi, several suspects have been arrested in operations targeting repair shops that handle such stolen gadgets.
Some gadgets are stolen after victims are harmed or even killed hence serious charges follow.
Police boss Adamson Bungei warned second-hand mobile phone dealers and the electronic engineers or repairers handling the gadgets they will face serious charges when investigations are completed.
“If you are a mobile phone engineer or repairer stop handling stolen gadgets. You become an accomplice in the crime when found,” he said.
He said detectives are now pursuing good leads on the issue and they aim to address the menace.
Tens of mobile phone users are usually robbed on the roads by thieves who take the gadgets for repairs before they are sold to unsuspecting buyers.
Bungei encouraged those whose gadgets are stolen to always report the same to the police.
The DCI Nairobi Region Coordinator Njeru Nthiga warned mobile phone thieves operating in the guise of phone dealers and phone repair shop owners that detectives are hot on their trail, equally cautioning genuine operators to be careful while handling second-hand electronics as they may put them in serious problems with the law.
Police say they are targeting motorbike riders who are behind the trend of stealing the gadgets as part of efforts to address the issue.