Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have detained two suspects with more than 900 stolen phones in Nairobi.
In a statement issued on Monday, January 26, detectives revealed that the suspects were apprehended along Charles Rubia Street, near the bustling Buscar bus stage.
According to the investigators, the suspects had packaged the phones into two shipments intended for Uganda, where they planned to sell the devices.
The two individuals are believed to be part of a phone theft ring responsible for stealing mobile phones from citizens and selling them in neighboring countries, the detectives stated.
“Based on reliable intelligence, our team executed a carefully planned operation in Nairobi’s busy Central Business District, along Charles Rubia Street near the crowded Buscar bus stage. There, they intercepted two packages heading to Uganda, which contained a large quantity of stolen goods,” the DCI reported.
“The suspects, Brian Yomasia and Stephen Okwachi Shisia, were arrested at the scene and, together with the cache of stolen devices, were immediately taken to the Nairobi Central Police Station, where they are currently being processed before being formally charged,” the statement added.
This announcement follows an incident two days earlier when detectives also arrested seven other individuals in Nairobi, including a Ugandan national, who were found with 150 stolen mobile phones, 16 tablets, and six laptops.
Detectives recovered 75 mobile phones in sealed packaging and two laptops from one suspect’s residence, according to officials.
The investigators confirmed that they had already identified several owners of the recovered phones, who came forward to provide statements.
“Notably, many of the recovered phones had their operating systems modified through flashing or factory resets, while others were disassembled and sold as replacement parts,” the DCI mentioned in a statement on Saturday, January 24.