Car theft syndicate wreck havoc in Eldoret town.
Aerial View of Eldoret Town. PHOTO|DRONE254KE
In a report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Eldoret, an estimate of three vehicles are stolen daily leading to the devastation of motorists in the county.
The losses are huge and the crime is executed in a meticulous manner in just three minutes.For dozens of motorists, all they are left with are car keys and pictures of their favourite machines.
It is a tale of a car theft syndicate that is wreaking havoc in Eldoret.
The report further indicates that 108 vehicles have been reported missing this year alone within the town and its environs, The Standard reports.
The vehicles are often driven to either Kericho or Kabarnet Counties by people whom the detectives believe are hired. They gain entry into the parked vehicles using master keys for different car models.
The vehicles are yet to be recovered despite a wide circulation of their number plates and details.An average of three cars are stolen each week, making it 18 vehicles a month, according to the records.
The hired drivers are said to have mastered the art of producing master keys for different car models which they use to gain entry into parked cars after days of monitoring the owner’s movements.
According to the Uasin Gishu County Criminal Investigations Officer Isaac Onyango, some of the vehicles are reportedly stolen after three minutes of parking.
“We recovered a stolen matatu three days ago. It is a complex thing and we suspect those reporting the incidents could also be the masterminds,” he noted.
Several motorists narrated incidences in which their vehicles were stolen in the said town.
In one case, Kenneth Kipkorir borrowed his mother’s car in the evening and afterwards, parked it outside a building along Oginga Odinga Street at 9:30pm.
However, when he returned over an hour later, his vehicle was nowhere to be seen.
“At 10:40 pm, I returned to the place I had parked the car and at first I thought I had been dazzled by the lightning in the parking area. I didn’t want to believe it had been stolen,” Kipkorir narrated.
On November 23, 2018, Sammy Birgen was approached by a man who identified himself as corporal Martin and who sought to hire his lorry to transport household goods from Eldoret Central Police Station to Cheptiret Police Post, about 22km from Eldoret town. The lorry registration number KBC 734G was driven to Eldoret police station where it was stolen.
