Police recover 294 stolen mobile phones, arrest 3 in Nakuru

NAKURU,Kenya, Feb, 9 – Three suspects believed to be part of a network of criminals stealing electronic devices in Nakuru town, mostly mobile phones, have been arrested following an operation by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

The three were arrested in a hideout in Nakuru town, said to be doubling up as a phone repair shop according to police.

During the operation, 294 mobile phones, one laptop and a Central processing unit (CPU) were recovered by the sleuths.

According to the County Criminal Investigations officer Anthony Sunguti, detectives had launched an operation to track down the gang following numerous reports by residents that their phones had been snatched within the Nakuru Central Business District and its environs.

“We’ve been getting complaints from members of the public that their phones have been stolen by bad guys…so we crafted a team and sent them to the field and luckily as they were carrying out their operation, there was one phone that had just been snatched. As we were tracking the phone, it led us to their home and led us to this cache,” he said.

The three told police they were technicians and that their phones were legally under their care for repair.

They however failed to produce evidence that they were indeed certified technicians.

Detectives also during the operation recovered flash software that was being used to repurpose the devices after which they were being resold to unsuspecting customers.

“After selling the devices they then use the cards to make extra money from members of the public. We recently identified mobile money outlets that the service provider has dedicated that service to suspicious characters who go and withdraw money from that entity,” the sleuth said.

Cases of mobile snatching are said to be on the rise in Nakuru despite police in recent months cracking down on the suspects.

Members of the Public who have lost their phones have been advised to report the matter in order to determine whether their devices are part of those recovered.