A car theft syndicate targeting motorists in malls has been exposed following an investigation that led to their arrest on Saturday, June 6. The well-drilled unit gang has mastered the art of lock picking, robbing Kenyans with violence and re-registering stolen vehicles.
A CCTV footage dated Thursday 30 April 2020 shows two men breaking into a car parked at Gateway Mall in Syokimau, Nairobi.
One of the men flashes keys to fool other motorists into thinking that he was the owner while the other broke into the car and made away with valuables.
The gang acted with speed as the break-in only took 40 seconds and they managed to escape just as the owner was arriving.
Just a minute after the robbery, the two men met the gang member stationed in the mall and plot their next victim of the day.
In another separate incident, the gang trailed the movements of a motorist from an ATM, still at Gateway Mall, where the gang masqueraded as taxi operators.
The motorists fell prey after leaving the cash he withdrew in the car and proceeding to the mall. One of the gang members faked a phone to assess the alertness of people in the surrounding before proceeding to break into the car and making away with the cash.
Their day of reckoning came on Saturday, June 6, when they fell into a trap set and were severely beaten by an angry mob before finally being rescued by police officers.
Back at Kayole Police Station, detectives were investigating a case of motor vehicle theft where cars were being re-registered under a different number plate using ones obtained from written-off vehicles.
The gang at Gateway were the same individuals being pursued by police in Kayole for the reregistration scheme.
The gang buys a written-off vehicle and mounts the stolen vehicle's body onto its chassis, using the plates of the written-off car and sell it to unsuspecting buyers.
The reregistration process is said to be conducted in Kariobangi and a popular garage in Ngara.
The gang has been eating life with a big spoon as one of them was arrested with a brand new BMW with some of them having been previously nabbed and released on bail but still continue with the crime.
The car theft syndicate is also said to have connections to senior police officers who have close ties with the criminals.
