This archive report was first published on 7 October 2019.
On October 7, 2019, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) issued a statement warning Kenyans against buying electronics from unauthorized vendors who deal in stolen and contraband items.
According to the DCI, these vendors often obtain their stock from armed gangsters who have robbed innocent citizens, and then rebrand and resell the items as new devices.
Police officers in Nairobi have recovered several large caches of stolen electronics in recent months, including 254 laptops in August and 700 laptops valued at Sh320 million in August 2018.
The DCI has warned that anyone found in possession of suspected stolen property may face serious consequences, including a death sentence.
'Being found with suspected stolen property, you suffer immediate consequences of the actual criminal, which may escalate to a death sentence,' the DCI warned.
'When we investigate and find you in possession of such devices, by the time it is established that you were not involved in the crime, you may have suffered immensely,' the statement added.
