DCI Goes After Second-hand Laptops, Phones Dealers And Buyers

In August, police officers in Nairobi recovered 254 laptops believed to have been stolen from a house in Kilimani, Nairobi.

Last week, a local company published in the dailies serial numbers of more than 1000 laptops it claimed had been stolen from the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Nairobi, urging Kenyans not to buy the said gadgets.

According to the DCI, traders without proper premises usually buy the devices from ‘‘armed gangsters who have violently robbed innocent citizens’’ and maimed or killed them.

 According to DCI, stoneheaded Kenyans who defy these orders will face serious consequences.

‘‘Being found with suspected stolen property, you suffer immediate consequences of the actual criminal, which may escalate to a death sentence,’’ the DCI warned in the strong statement.

‘‘When [we] investigate (forensically) and find you in possession of such said devices, by the time it is established that you were not involved in the crime, you may have suffered immensely,’’ the statement said.

Take for instance, in August last year, detectives discovered in Nairobi a cache of 700 laptops that were reportedly stolen from the Office of the Deputy President William Ruto. Seven suspects were arrested in the dawn raid.

The laptops, valued at Sh320 million, had fraudulently been obtained from businessman Stephen Musyoka.