Months after Interior Cabinet Secretary scaled up operations to address insecurity in many parts of the country, a section of Nairobi residents, on Wednesday, May 17, exposed a new wave of attacks allegedly targeting motorists parking in supermarkets and shopping malls.
According to the residents, the suspects break into parked vehicles while others use master keys to access them.
In a series of messages shared, the residents indicated that some perpetrators posed as shoppers before preying on unlocked cars and making away with property of unknown value.
In one instance, an aggrieved resident indicated he left his car in a supermarket basement while heading out to a shopping mall along Mombasa Road.
The motorist was shocked after finding the property of unknown value stolen from his car. Unknown individuals broke into the victim's car.
"When I reported the matter to the police, I was surprised to learn that similar cases have been reported," the motorists lamented.
Another resident indicated that he survived the ordeal after realising that his car was opened immediately after he left for shopping. He alleged that thugs used master keys to open his car, but the back ringing sound alerted him.
Efforts by Kenyans.co.ke to reach out to area police officers on the phone went unanswered.
Following the alleged attacks, the residents appealed to shopping malls to improve security, especially in the parking lots. They also implored them to instal CCTV cameras covering the entire mall to protect their customers.
The National Police Service (NPS) was yet to issue a statement regarding the incidents.
On February 2022, the Directorate of Criminal Investigation exposed a similar scheme targeting Nairobi residents. DCI indicated that unknown individuals were breaking into parked cars and switching logbooks.
"The fraudsters drive top of the range vehicles, posing as legitimate businessmen in the thriving property, land and logistics sector while all they do is identify a vehicle on the road or at a parking slot before contacting their partners in crime at the NTSA and have the vehicles registered in their names," part of the statement released by DCI read.
"They then rush to micro finance institutions and obtain credit leaving the owners at the mercy of ruthless auctioneers," it added.
Following the surge, DCI deployed Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau officers to hunt down the gang leaders after a widow lost a brand-new car in Nairobi.
