This archive report was first published on 2 November 2019.
On Friday, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) successfully repatriated four luxury vehicles stolen from the United Kingdom and illegally shipped to Kenya.
According to KRA, the four vehicles are among 21 high-end cars intercepted at the port of Mombasa between March and September this year. The vehicles were stolen abroad and shipped to Kenya, where they were intercepted by a joint team of law enforcement agencies.
The seized high-value vehicles include Range Rovers, Mercedes Benz, and BWMs, with a total value of Sh130 million, according to Waqa Qureshi, the First Secretary at the British High Commissioner's office in Nairobi.
Speaking at a press conference, Tera Saidimu, the KRA Commissioner of Intelligence, said the repatriation of the vehicles sends a strong message to criminal networks in East Africa and beyond that the port of Mombasa will not be used as a conduit for illicit trade.
The operation to nab the stolen cars was a collaborative effort between KRA, the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Interpol, and the UK's National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS).
The four cars included a Black Range Rover Sport stolen in London, a White Mercedes Benz GLE 25OD AMG stolen in Berkshire, and a Black Range Rover Sport Autobiography stolen in Oxford Shire.
