Police arrest gangsters who have been drugging and robbing boda boda riders
A woman is among three suspects who have been arrested by Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives in connection to the theft of motorcycles.
The theft ring has been operating between Kenya and Tanzania, where the stolen motorbikes are believed to have a ready market.
The arrests came after investigations revealed the existence of a well-organized criminal gang that has been behind the theft of motorcycles in various towns in the country, before ferrying them to Loitoktok town from where they are sneaked across the border.
A female suspect, believed to be the bait used to attract the boda boda riders was the first to be arrested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives.
Posing as a pillion passenger, the woman stupefies her victims along the way before disappearing with the motorbikes, once the riders lose consciousness.
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The suspect, who was arrested after comprehensive investigations, led detectives to her other accomplices, including one Daniel Mwaniki and William Nkadanyo alias Saningo. Nkadanyo was arrested in Loitoktok town where he is believed to have a ready market for the stolen motorcycles.
Stolen mobile phones were also recovered from the suspects including one that had been stolen from a motorbike rider, who was stupefied before he also lost his bike in Juja, Kiambu County.
More than 30 tablets believed to be stupefying drugs were also recovered from the suspects, who were discovered to have pending criminal cases in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado County and in Diani, Kwale County. The suspects were expected in court as the hunt for other suspects continue.
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The arrest comes a day after two women were charged with administering stupefying drugs to a patron in a club in Githurai 44 on July 1.
Jennifer Wanjiku Kamau, 45 and Lydia Waithera Maina 37, were on July 3 charged at the Makadara Law Courts with administering the unknown drug to Peter Swakei and denied the charges.
The accused persons were arrested by members of the public after Swakei, who they had followed into a bar, was found unconscious while seated between them.
They were rescued from a lynch mob by the police officers on patrol after they were cornered immediately after allegedly drugging the man they wanted to steal from.
Police found them with tablets of unknown drugs during a search at the time of arrest. They then rushed the man to a hospital in Kasarani where he was treated and discharged after regaining consciousness.
Cases of motorbike theft have been on the rise in the country.
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