The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Saturday, November 21, revealed that they had unearthed an online cartel luring high school students, a day after seven missing girls were rescued.
In a statement, the directorate said that the cartel had been enticing school girls from their homes for partying orgies that go on for days.
"The DCI wishes to inform the public that we are hunting down members of the cartel and they’ll be apprehended to answer for their crimes," reads an excerpt of the statement.
DCI further urged parents to stay vigilant and take a keen interest in their children’s activities at home and monitor what they do on social media.
"As the investigations go on, we wish to issue a stern warning to individuals taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to prey on school girls," the investigative body stated.
"Their days are numbered," read part of the statement posted on Twitter.
The girls told the DCI officials attached to Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection Unit and the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau, they were lured from their home and linked up in partying joints in Nairobi.
"A number of worried parents from Nairobi’s Kayole and Komarock reported to us that their daughters had gone missing from home for days. The parents only reported their daughters were missing after they failed to go home several days later," reads the statement.
DCI stated that the cartel had been using internationally-registered telephone numbers, although they operate from Nairobi.
DCI's warning came days after seven teenage girls who went missing in Nairobi's Komarock estate were rescued.
Their missing person case went viral after their plight was highlighted by Fiona Otieno, one of the missing girl's cousin.
Upon their return, the girls disclosed that they were bored at home having stayed indoors since the Covid-19 outbreak in March.
"I would not be here if it were not for the angle the whole thing has taken on social media, with people trolling us," Natalie, one of the girls who went missing stated.
A parent to one of the missing girls suspected that there was a group of online human traffickers who recruited young girls in their gang.
"I am told about 20 girls here are part of the ring but we don't know their master yet, although we suspect one of us (in the community)," she stated.
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