When the deal is too good, you should think twice. In a multi-agency crackdown against a transnational motor vehicle crime syndicate, the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) recovered a luxury vehicle that was stolen in the United Kingdom.
In its operations in Nairobi, they recovered a grey Land Rover Discovery bearing registration number KCY 001J at a motor vehicle yard along the Northern Bypass. On the INTERPOL database, the vehicle had been reported stolen in the United Kingdom.
According to the DCI, the operation, which is dubbed Operation Carback II, concluded yesterday and was spearheaded by its INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Nairobi (NCB-Nairobi) and the Operations Directorate, which worked alongside other investigation units.
The operation covered other parts, including Eastern, Central, Nyanza, Western, Coastal and Rift Valley, where they targeted motor vehicle yards, showrooms, spare parts shops, garages, motor vehicle bazaars and highway checkpoints.
Apart from the Northern Bypass, another operation was being conducted in Embakasi, Nairobi, where detectives recovered a forklift that was said to have belonged to a crawler. The forklift ha d a wiped-out chassis number, which prompted its referral to DCI Embakasi, where further investigation will be done.
In Thika West Sub-County, DCI detectives discovered a white Mercedes-Benz Kompressor bearing a registration number belonging to an orange Suzuki station wagon, which raises questions about the Mercedes-Benz registration details. The matter was then referred to the Sub-County Criminal Investigation Officer for further investigations.
The exercise brought together multi-agency organisations, including the National Transport and Safety Authority, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Kenya Bureau of Standards, the Kenya Police Service and the Administration Police Service.
Kenya joined other INTERPOL member countries in a simultaneous global operation coordinated under Project Drive Out in collaboration with EUROPOL, where they came up with an initiative that aimed to cut out organised vehicle crime networks around the world, identify stolen vehicles and vehicle parts, and, lastly, strengthen cross-border law enforcement cooperation.
The operation follows a similar one that was conducted in 2024, which delivered a national enforcement sweep, with detectives physically inspecting more than 1,800 vehicles and checking over 260,000 vehicles against the INTERPOL database.
