Detectives have recovered a luxury Land Rover Discovery stolen in the United Kingdom during a week-long multi-agency operation targeting local and international motor vehicle theft syndicates.
The grey Land Rover Discovery, registration number KCY 001J, was recovered from a motor vehicle yard along Nairobi's Northern Bypass during Operation Carback II, which concluded on Friday.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said an inspection and verification against the INTERPOL database established that the vehicle had been reported stolen in the UK.
Details of the recovered vehicle
The vehicle was subsequently impounded and escorted to DCI headquarters for further processing and investigations.
The recovery was among the key outcomes of the nationwide operation spearheaded by the DCI through its INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Nairobi and the Operations Directorate, in collaboration with other investigative units and national law enforcement agencies.
Kenya participated in the coordinated international crackdown under INTERPOL's Project Drive Out, working alongside the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and other member countries to disrupt organised vehicle crime networks.
The operation targeted stolen vehicles and vehicle parts, with investigators seeking to identify criminal networks involved in trafficking vehicles across borders and dismantle their operations.
Scope of the operation
According to the DCI, detectives physically inspected more than 1,800 vehicles and checked over 260,000 against the INTERPOL database during the operation.
The enforcement teams covered Nairobi, Eastern, Central, Nyanza, Western, Coast and Rift Valley regions, conducting inspections at motor vehicle yards, showrooms, spare-parts outlets, garages, vehicle bazaars and highway checkpoints.
In Thika West Sub-County, detectives discovered a white Mercedes-Benz Kompressor bearing registration number KBZ 325J, which was found to belong to an orange Suzuki station wagon.
The discrepancy raised questions about the vehicle's identity and registration, prompting further investigations by the Sub-County Criminal Investigations Officer.
In a separate incident in Embakasi, detectives recovered a forklift bearing registration number KAD 132K, which was found to belong to a crawler.
Investigators also discovered that the vehicle's chassis number had been obliterated, raising suspicion and prompting the matter to be referred to DCI Embakasi for further investigations and appropriate action.
The operation brought together several government agencies, including the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA), Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), Kenya Police Service and Administration Police Service.
Collaboration among agencies
Operation Carback II builds on a similar crackdown conducted in 2024, highlighting the authorities' continued efforts to combat vehicle theft, fraudulent registration and the cross-border trafficking of stolen motor vehicles.
The DCI said coordinated enforcement, intelligence-led investigations and international information-sharing remain critical in identifying stolen vehicles and disrupting criminal syndicates operating within Kenya and beyond its borders.
