Detectives have arrested several suspects believed to be part of a criminal gang that has been targeting motorists and truck drivers along major highways in Central Kenya.
The syndicate had been operating along the Thika–Nyeri and Thika–Embu highways, ambushing vehicles, and robbing drivers of goods worth millions of shillings.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the gang often posed as police or revenue officers to stop vehicles.
Dressed in jungle fatigues and reflector jackets, they would flag down unsuspecting drivers under the guise of routine checks before assaulting them, handcuffing them, and locking them in car trunks. The stolen vehicles would later be found abandoned after their cargo was stolen.
The operation to dismantle the gang was launched by detectives drawn from the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau, the Operations Assist Team, and DCI Gatanga following reports of violent robberies at Kutus and Wanguru. In both cases, drivers were attacked by men pretending to be police officers.
One of the incidents occurred on October 8, when a driver transporting 450 bales of maize flour from a milling company to Nairobi was ambushed and dumped far from the scene. The truck was later recovered in Njiru, Nairobi, stripped of all its cargo.
A few days later, another driver from the same company was targeted by individuals posing as Kenya Revenue Authority officers, but he managed to escape after recognising the fake setup, with the near-robbery incident leading the detectives to link the two attacks to one coordinated criminal gang.
“In another related case, a truck driver transporting Ksh5.4 million worth of toothpaste products from Nairobi to Embu was similarly attacked and left stranded in Ndarugu-Witeithie. Detectives from Mwea East later traced the stolen goods to a building in Embu, confirming the syndicate’s wider network,” a statement from the DCI detailed in part.
After a series of forensic investigations and days of surveillance, detectives moved in and arrested key suspects in a sting operation.
During the raid, police recovered items believed to have been used in the robberies, including toy pistols, military fatigues, handcuffs, and reflector jackets.
The suspects were arraigned in court, where detectives were granted 14 days to complete investigations.
In a follow-up operation, more suspects were arrested for handling stolen goods, and some of the stolen cargo was recovered from stores along the city’s outskirts, with police revealing that the arrests have dealt a major blow to highway robbery gangs that have been targeting transporters.
Meanwhile, the DCI has urged motorists and transporters to be cautious when stopped on highways and to immediately report any suspicious individuals posing as law enforcement officers.
