Burglars drill hole in Kitengela shop wall, steal mobile phones worth Sh1.5 million

A total of 50 mobile phones and an assortment of accessories worth at least Sh1.5 million were stolen from a mobile phone shop in Kitengela after unidentified burglars drilled a hole in a wall of the shop on Thursday night.

In a daring act, the suspects tied the hands and legs of the two night guards with ropes and allegedly held them captive for hours as they carried out the five-hour robbery.

The two night guards, who were untied in the morning by passers-by, are in police custody and are assisting investigators as "persons of interest".

The allegedly stunned guards had told police officers that a gang of more than five struck at midnight and took about five hours to commit the crime.

The suspects first broke into an adjacent shop before using chisels and tools to drill a hole in the wall to gain access to the mobile phones shop.

The Tecno Maafcom shop is located in front of the Nurric building in Kitengela township, which limited the burglar's chances of breaking through the front doors.

On Friday morning, workers at the shop found empty shelves and phone boxes. The CCTV cameras had also been completely destroyed.

"The shop had been turned upside down. All the phones and accessories were gone. The hole in the wall was fresh," a shopkeeper told the Nation on Friday.

According to Kitengela Police Station OB No 37/12:16hrs, the shop owner had lost 50 brand new phones of various makes and accessories worth at least Sh1.5 million.The shop remained closed on Friday.

An investigating officer told the Nation on Friday that they had already conducted technical investigations and were tracing the stolen phones through their serial numbers.

"We are tracing the mobile phones.

Fortunately, the owner had written down the serial numbers of the phones. The two guards are helping with the investigation. It was a well-planned burglary," the officer said.

Such incidents have become a trend in Kitengela, where several other mobile phone shops have been broken into in the past six months.

A gang of burglars has been targeting Mpesa and mobile phone shops. They usually strike in the middle of the night and target old buildings, perhaps because of their "weak" walls. After the robbery, they vanish into thin air, leaving behind a trail of destruction and colossal losses.

Three months ago, burglars drilled a hole in a wall to gain access to Kitengela Tumaini Electronics and a hardware store, making off with mobile phones and electronics worth thousands of shillings.

In another similar incident on the night of 12 January 2023, in a daring heist reminiscent of a blockbuster movie episode, two cunning burglars drilled a hole from a lodging room in Kitengela town to gain access to a Safaricom Mpesa dealer shop and made off with mobile phones and other valuables worth over Sh700, 000.

The two middle-aged men booked two adjoining rooms, 106 and 107, at Plains View Sisters lodging at around 4pm.

The robbery only cost the two burglars Sh1,600 for two rooms and at least 8 hours to drill a hole for Sh700,000 in valuables without being detected.

Although the two suspects were caught on CCTV, no arrests have been made so far.

Isinya Sub-County Police Commander Patrick Manyasi told the Nation that officers had launched an investigation and were following some strong leads.

"It is a worrying trend. It's a matter of time before we catch them. This is organised crime involving several suspects," he told the Nation.

The Sub-County Police boss warned the public against buying phones from people without proper receipts.

"Let the public know that it's a crime to buy phones without proper documentation. Such phones can land you in jail for several years," he warned.