Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations(DCI) headquarters raided a number of homesteads in Juja, Kiambu County on Thursday, March 10 following President Uhuru Kenyatta's directive on the ban of scrap metal dealerships.
During the exercise, the special team from DCI arrested three suspects and recovered property belonging to Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) worth millions.
Among the items that were recovered included transformers, transmission conductors, transformers, rolls of aluminium conductors, and assorted materials.
In their statement, the police added that one of the suspects attempted to escape but was cornered by the detectives who were tipped off prior to raiding the homes.
"In an intelligence-driven operation, DCI sleuths from Headquarters Operations Branch raided a scrap metal yard in Juja's Matangi area, where several vandalized KPLC equipment was seized.
"A further search in nearby homesteads led to the recovery of more vandalized apparatus, where a container full of steel bracings obtained from critical electricity transmission towers were recovered," read a statement by the DCI.
The arrested trio was arraigned at the Thika Law courts and charged with vandalism as the police launched a manhunt for more suspects.
Additionally, the police warned individuals from tampering with Uhuru's projects as the government was spending more money on repairs.
"Last November, operations along the busy Mombasa-Nairobi Standard gauge railway (SGR) had to be stopped for two hours after gauge blocks were vandalized from the line. So far, five suspects have been arrested and presented before the court," the police stated.
The President announced a moratorium in scrap metal trade due to runaway vandalism, targeting critical national infrastructure. He noted that the level of greed by unscrupulous traders out to make illegal profits by vandalizing critical installations had hit alarming rates.
Uhuru issued the orders during a police pass out parade at the National Police College Main Campus, Kiganjo in Nyeri County on January 20.
"We expect you to do your duty and execute your function as the law dictates. As of today, we will no longer allow and we have put a moratorium on the export or buying and selling of any scrap material until we have put in place proper guidelines that will ensure that material is not coming from the hard investments that the Kenyan people have made," Uhuru directed.
