Officers from the Flying Squad Division under the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, on Friday, December 27, announced the arrest of a notorious trio of suspected car thieves.
The three, 20-year-old Nicholas Opiyo, a resident of Kariobangi North, 28-year-old Kelvin Oduor Demba from Baba Dogo & 36-year-old Patrick Mburugu from Meru County but a resident of Ngara-Nairobi were trailed to Meru following a tip-off from members of the public.
Following the arrest, the officers recovered a Toyota Fielder, registration number KCH 301R that was just about to be sold off.
According to the statement shared by the DCI, the three individuals are believed to be in the business of selling stolen motor vehicles.
In a similar operation in Nairobi County, detectives intercepted two Toyota Hilux motor vehicles with double registration number KCE 600P and detained them pending further investigation.
Interior CS Fred Matiang'i had on February 5, 2019, vowed to tackle the rampant issue of duplicated registration numbers.
"I promise my fellow Kenyans that it will never happen again. We will shake it (the cloning cartel) to its bone marrow," Matiang'i quipped.
The CS further indicated that he would ensure that the NTSA will live up to its mandate and deliver to Kenyans.
He further noted that the government agencies had identified the gaps being exploited in the cloning of number plates, further indicating that he was working closely with the DCI under George Kinoti, and the National Police Service (NPS) under the then IG Joseph Boinnet.
"We will do all that needs to be done to ensure we correct the gaps in this institution," the CS indicated, iterating that his entire team was aligned to deal with the matter conclusively.
