Watch Chinese Man Go Undercover to Nab Nairobi CBD Thieves

Passenger holding his phone carelessly outside a car window in Nairobi.
Passenger holding his phone carelessly outside a car window in Nairobi.
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As brazen theft of mobile phones in public become a menace in Nairobi City, a Chinese National decided to uncover the tricks the thugs use to carry out the mischief.

In a 3-minuted clip that surfaced online on Friday, July 23, the unidentified Chinese national is seen driving along a road on the downtown section of Nairobi CBD.

He is seated on the left passenger seat while carelessly dangling his phone along the busy streets to entice the thugs.

On his right hand, he holds a teaser to neutralise the thugs as they attempt to snatch the phone which appeared to be of a high-end brand.

Below is the video:

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"We are in Nairobi City and we are going to show you a phone snatching that is snatching my phone," stated a commentator on the video.

The first suspect took an average of two seconds before closing in on the commodity. After spotting the loosely held phone, the robber stands at a distance waiting for another passerby heading in the same direction to act as a shield before zeroing in.

"He was so fast and he grabbed my phone really hard. He took just 0.24 seconds," stated the commentator.

In another instance, two individuals are seen running towards the car when they spot the phone but as one of them attempts to snatch it, he is tased.

Atleast seven people -some operating as lone-wolf thugs others in gangs- attempted to snatch the phone.

"If I was not holding the phone so hard, I would lose it for sure. If I was just a traveller, I would not come back in this country," he stated before acknowledge that some individuals had advised him to keep it away because he risked losing it.

The dummy phone was of a Samsung Galaxy A11 that retails from Ksh14,000 locally.

The experiment shows how phone theft in the city has hit record levels with thugs even daring to steal from uniformed police officers.

On July 7, a dashcam captured a pillion passenger aboard a motorcycle quickly snatching a phone from a police officer in Githurai.

The National Police Service (NPS), however, dismissed the viral video claiming that it was manipulated.

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