Mastermind behind theft of new passports arrested

The mastermind behind the disappearance of new generation passports from job recruitment agencies has been arrested and 22 passports recovered from his possession.

Stephen Obiero was arrested by detectives based at the directorate of immigration services, following a sudden high demand for the travel document.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that the passports are sold to West Africans who are in the country illegally, each at Ksh22,000.

The detectives posed as pidgin speaking West Africans and lured the suspect to a matatu along Mfangano street, where the transaction took place.

“Unbeknownst to him, he was dealing with multilingual undercover agents, speaking a mixture of Yoruba and broken English. Once the deal was sealed, Obiero was handcuffed and became a guest of the state, much to his dismay” the DCI said.

Most of the passports recovered belong to young female Kenyans who had deposited them at recruitment agencies, for job opportunities in the Gulf states. The immigration detectives are currently tracing the owners of the passports.

Meanwhile, the suspect is currently in custody at the central police station pending arraignment on Monday, March 7, 2022.