3 JKUAT Students Suspected To Be Part Of Cybercrime Syndicate In Juja Arrested

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 31 – Three suspected thugs believed to be students at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) and part of a cybercrime syndicate in Juja, Kiambu county have been arrested.

The three, were apprehended by police on Friday night following a tip off by local residents at a house near the university.

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) raided their home and confiscated several electronic devices including mobile phones, laptops, storage devices and close to 100 stolen sim cards.

“Locals suspected that something sinister was happening at the house and they notified police. When we got there we found the three young men aged between 22 and 25 years. the electronic devices we found we believe were being used to commission criminal activities,” Juja DCI boss Richard Mwaura said.

The Juja DCI boss told Shahidi News that a multi-agency team is already working with the cyber crime unit at the DCI headquarters to establish and bring down the activities of the syndicate.

“Sim-cards have been registered using ID numbers of Kenyans who might not know or be aware what is happening but efforts are in place to establish the owners of those ID cards and numbers. Hopefully we will bring people involved in this crime to book,” he said.

The electronic devices have since been put under legal custody pending further investigations.

Several rolls of marijuana were also recovered from the scene.

“They will also be charged with possession of marijuana but until then they remain in our custody before being arraigned,” he said.

The country has been experiencing an increased number of cyber crime related activities particularly during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In June 2018, a fourth-year engineering student from JKUAT was arrested alongside a Safaricom employee in connection with SIM card fraud in the country.

Members of the public have been advised to deist from sharing private information with individuals claiming to be working with various mobile subscribers.