DCI and INTERPOL traced a luxury Land Rover Discovery found on Nairobi's Northern Bypass to a UK theft report during Operation Carback II, a week-long crackdown on vehicle theft syndicates.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and INTERPOL have uncovered suspected vehicle identity fraud in Kenya after detectives traced a luxury Land Rover to a theft report in the United Kingdom during a nationwide crackdown on motor vehicle crime.
The grey Land Rover Discovery was found at a motor vehicle yard along Nairobi's Northern Bypass during Operation Carback II, a week-long multi-agency operation targeting local and international vehicle theft networks. A check against the INTERPOL database established that the vehicle had been reported stolen in the UK.
Detectives impounded it and moved it to DCI headquarters as investigations began into how it ended up in a Kenyan motor vehicle yard. The DCI said the operation involved checking vehicles against international records to identify those linked to cross-border crime. The Land Rover recovery provides a direct link between a vehicle found in Kenya and a theft report in the UK.
"A major breakthrough in the fight against transnational motor vehicle crime has seen detectives recover a luxury vehicle stolen in the United Kingdom in an operation targeting local and transnational motor vehicle theft syndicates," the DCI confirmed.
"The multi-agency team brought together the NTSA, KRA, ODPP, Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), Kenya Police Service and Administration Police Service," the DCI said.
During the week-long crackdown, detectives physically inspected more than 1,800 vehicles and checked over 260,000 against the INTERPOL database, according to the DCI. The findings emerged from inspections across Nairobi, Eastern, Central, Nyanza, Western, Coast and Rift Valley regions.
Sources close to the investigations said detectives targeted motor vehicle yards, showrooms, garages, spare-parts shops, bazaars and highway checkpoints.
In Thika West, detectives found a white Mercedes-Benz Kompressor whose registration details matched an orange Suzuki station wagon, prompting further investigations into the syndicate.
In Embakasi, detectives recovered a forklift whose records identified it as a crawler. Its chassis number had been obliterated, and DCI Embakasi has opened further investigations.