Nairobi police hunt suspected thieves led by granny

Police in Nairobi are investigating several theft incidents involving five gangsters, led by an elderly woman believed to be in her eighties.

Police say the gang members include two men and three women, all of Asian origin.

They target electronic goods and M-Pesa shops in Nairobi and neighbouring towns.

According to police reports, the gang has operated for the past three years.

In all the cases reported to the police, there is no single incident where the gang is reported to have used a firearm.

Police say one of the gangsters is well-known and was brought up in South C before he moved to an unknown place two years ago.

In most of the cases reported to the police, the elderly gang leader accompanies her youthful accomplices to the scene of crime and pretends to be a first-time visitor to the country and desperately needs to change her foreign currency to Kenyan money.

The gang has been captured on several CCTV cameras.

Lang'ata OCPD Elija Maina on Tuesday said police were investigating a case in which the same gang stole money from an M-Pesa shop in Dam 2 Estate in Lang'ata last Saturday.

The elderly woman and her accomplice, a young woman, went to the shop and pretended that they wanted to withdraw Sh70,000 from M-Pesa.

KENYAN CURRENCY

The young woman told the owner that the old woman had arrived in Kenya the previous day and wanted to see various denominations of Kenyan currency.

“I realised that they were taking too long and became impatient. I told them that I wanted to attend to another customer who wanted to buy milk from the next counter, but the young woman pleaded with me to be patient,” the victim said.

The shop attendant went to serve another customer and on returning, she saw the gang walking towards a car that was parked nearby. She checked the counter and realised the two had stolen cash.

On Thursday last week, the gang allegedly assaulted a man after he confronted them and demanded to know why they were stealing from people.

Mr Maina said the police are aware of the assault incident.

“We have not made any arrests but we are looking for them,” he said.

In another incident, CCTV footage shows the gang stealing goods from a shop.

A male gang member pretended to be checking a bed sheet. He spread the bed sheet, blocking the shop owner from seeing his accomplice as she stole goods including mobile phones.