Kenyan Authorities Return Four Luxury Cars Stolen from the UK

Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) on Friday repatriated four luxury vehicles stolen from the United Kingdom and illegally shipped to Kenya.

KRA said the four are among 21 high-end cars intercepted at the port of Mombasa between March and September this year after being stolen abroad and shipped to Kenya.

Tera Saidimu, the KRA Commissioner of Intelligence said the seized high-value vehicles include among others, Range Rovers, Mercedes Benz, and BWMs.

“In returning these vehicles, we wish to send a strong message to criminal network in East Africa and beyond that, the port of Mombasa will not be used as a conduit for illicit trade,” Saidimu told journalists.

Waqa Qureshi, the First Secretary at the British High Commissioner’s office in Nairobi said the 21 stolen vehicles are worth Sh130 million. Qureshi was representing the new British High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Mariott.

“I’m extremely grateful to our Kenya partners whose continued efforts are acting as a deterrent to organized crime network both here in East Africa and the United Kingdom,” Qureshi said.

The operation to nab the stolen cars was done by officers from KRA, Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), Interpol and the UK’s National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS).

The four cars included a Black Range Rover Sport stolen in London, a White Mercedes Benz GLE 25OD AMG stolen in Berkshire and a Black Range Rover Sport Autobiography stolen in Oxford Shire.