Five arrested as stolen livestock worth over Ksh 2M is intercepted

Five thugs were arrested Tuesday afternoon after ferrying stolen livestock worth over Ksh 2 million, along the Naivasha-Longonot highway.

Nancy Njeri, 40, Philip Karuga, 55, John Mwaura, 49, James Githinji, 44 and Peter Cecilia, 49 were arrested in a lorry full of stolen sheep, by DCI Naivasha-based detectives.

The lorry registration number KBM 076Z was headed for the lucrative Nairobi market when the sleuths acting on intelligence leads intercepted it.

The sheep had been stolen from a herder in Longonot’s Mirera area barely two weeks after another herder lost livestock worth over Ksh 2.5 million.

In a new crime wave that appears to be gaining currency, unscrupulous city traders have taken advantage of the growing demand for meat and resorted to stealing livestock from herders in counties neighbouring Nairobi.

The animals then find their way to the established Dagoretti and Kiamaiko livestock markets where they are hurriedly slaughtered and supplied to city Nyama choma joints.

In December last year, a butcher operating a chain of Nyama Choma eateries along the eastern bypass was arrested by detectives following the disappearance of livestock in neighbouring Machakos County.

Meanwhile, the five suspects are in custody as detectives prepare to arraign them Wednesday morning.