Police in Nairobi have uncovered how stolen phones are allegedly being made untraceable and resold through a network of repair shops, with a raid in Dandora exposing what investigators believe is part of a wider syndicate operating in the city’s estates.
The operation, carried out by officers from the National Police Service, led to the arrest of five suspects after a mobile phone repair shop in Dandora Phase III was raided on suspicion of handling stolen property.
According to police, the shop had allegedly been used not just for repairs, but also as a place where stolen phones were processed, altered and prepared for resale.
Investigators say the syndicate relied on methods such as dismantling devices for spare parts, resetting software, and in some cases tampering with identifying details to make it difficult for victims or authorities to trace the phones once they disappeared.
Police said the operation was launched following intelligence reports and surveillance linked to rising cases of phone snatching in Nairobi estates.
“Acting on credible leads, officers raided a mobile phone repair shop located in Dandora Phase III, a premise now believed to have been operating as a concealment and distribution point for stolen property,” the National Police Service said.
During the raid, officers recovered 21 mobile phones of different makes, suspected to have been stolen from members of the public in robberies and street snatching incidents across nearby areas.
They also found 12 Kenya Power token meters, which are believed to have been illegally removed from residential homes and hidden inside the premises.
The arrests have once again raised concerns over how stolen electronics are processed in the city, with repair shops in some cases being used as cover to break down devices and erase traces of ownership before resale.
One of the major issues that the victims have had with their stolen phones is how quickly these gadgets become untraceable after being taken in mere hours after the activation of any trace features in their devices.
According to the police, the five suspects have been put in jail pending the outcome of investigations as the police try to determine whether the Dandora store forms a part of a bigger organized network of operations in Nairobi.
The latest raid is one of the measures by security authorities in the dismantling of the gangs preying on the mobile phone users around Nairobi, particularly in the busy pedestrian areas such as matatu stages.
In another move, the Kenya Copyright Board also raided the Pipeline area in Nairobi and confiscated suspicious illegal broadcast equipment that included decoders, amplifiers, and cables among other pieces of equipment.
Three suspects were arrested in that operation as investigations continue.
