A multi-agency team led by the National Police Service (NPS) in Nairobi arrested six suspected youth aged between 20-26 years while on patrol on Monday, November 21.
According to police reports, the six miscreants were flushed out from their hideout in Mathare Area 1 and found in possession of four knives, one stone and eight rolls of bhang.
The suspects were processed, and charges levelled before their arraignment in court.
Their apprehension was part of a heavy police operation in the city to address the insurgence of street crimes, including daylight mugging and robbery across the city.
Police had earlier listed Mathare estate and the surrounding areas of the Drive-In flyover up to KCA along Thika Road as part of crime hotspots in the city.
Apprehension of the six suspects occurred a day after the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) arrested a 29-year-old in the Kasarani area.
The man was found with over 200 smartphones suspected to have been stolen from members of the public.
Furthermore, the arrests followed a major reshuffle of the Nairobi County Police command by the Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kithure Kindiki following a public outcry.
Kindiki declared a major crackdown and deployed multi-agency teams in crime-prone areas to restore calm and normalcy.
Inspector General Japhet Koome also warned crime syndicates in Nairobi and across the country against engaging in crime. Koome affirmed that he would unleash the full wrath of the law.
To fully maintain law and order, the police called upon the citizens to cooperate in divulging information and acting as whistleblowers.
In a call to end the upsurge in crime, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, urged the youth to be patient with his office as he was willing to fund their business ventures to deter them from engaging in criminal activities.
