This archive report was first published on 7 October 2019.
On October 7, 2019, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) issued a stern warning to Kenyans against purchasing electronics from unauthorized vendors who deal in stolen and contraband goods.
According to the DCI, these vendors obtain their stock from armed gangsters who have violently 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 recovered in August from a house in Kilimani, Nairobi, and 700 laptops valued at Sh320 million discovered in a raid on the Office of the Deputy President William Ruto in August last year.
The DCI has warned that anyone found in possession of suspected stolen property will face severe consequences, including the possibility of 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.
