A months-long investigation into a syndicate behind the theft of phones in Nairobi has led to the arrest of a key suspect Cyrus Kisavi Musyoka, the Ikanga/Kyatune MCA.
The investigation now offers a glimpse into one of over 300 criminal organisations operating in Kenya.
Mr Musyoka was arrested in connection with theft of phones in Nairobi, with detectives stating that the stolen handsets are later sold as fresh units to unsuspecting buyers as far as Ethiopia.
Police said CCTV footage helped identify Mr Musyoka in three reported theft incidents in August and September, 2026.
His arrest also brought to light an outstanding warrant in a 2024 criminal case in which he was wanted for failing to attend court after being released on bond by the Makadara Law Courts, where he had been charged with stealing.
A senior police officer, who declined to be named because investigations were ongoing, said Mr Musyoka is suspected to be behind phone theft syndicate that ferries stolen items from Nairobi to Ethiopia but declined to provide further details.
The case offers a glimpse into a criminal economy that extends beyond the person caught stealing a phone. Behind such operations are financiers, transporters, intermediaries and buyers who ensure stolen goods are moved and sold, providing an incentive for the thefts to continue even when individual suspects are arrested.
Cyrus Kisavi Musyoka, the sitting MCA for Ikanga/Kyatune Ward in Kitui County.
Photo credit: Pool
National Police Service spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga said police were increasingly focusing on the financers and networks behind street crime rather than concentrating solely on the people committing offences. He cited the arrest of a man in Nairobi who was found with two bags of mobile phones destined for Uganda two weeks ago.
“There is a market in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, beyond our immediate borders,” he said, explaining that the people carrying out phone snatching could be financed, assigned areas of operation and connected to ready markets.
The scale of the problem is reflected in several government and security assessments. In early October, Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo said the government had identified 109 organised criminal gangs and groups countrywide, up from 89 declared illegal under Gazette Notice No. 10427 of 2016.
Between January 1 and August 31, 2026, police arrested and arraigned 1,827 suspects over offences relating to goonism and organised criminal activity. Trans Nzoia recorded the highest number, with 491 suspects.
Authorities reported 729 convictions, with the Rift Valley accounting for 36.5 per cent, while 716 cases are before courts of law.
“These figures show that the response goes beyond arrests to investigation, prosecution and conviction,” Mr Omollo said.
The Principal Secretary for Ministry of Interior and National Administration Dr Raymond Omollo when he appeared before the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Administration and Internal Security at the County Hall Nairobi on May 13, 2026.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
However, with hundreds of cases still before the courts, the question remains whether enforcement is reaching the structures that allow criminal activity to reproduce itself.
A 2025 National Crime Research Centre (NCRC) report, The Proliferation and Resilience of Criminal Gangs in Kenya, mapped 309 gangs across 11 counties. Mombasa had the highest number, at 73, followed by Nairobi with 56 and Kilifi with 47.
The report also showed that some groups operated across county boundaries. Gaza Brothers were identified in eight of the 11 counties examined, while 42 Brothers were present in six. Wakali Wao operated in five counties, while Panga Boys, Mungiki and Chafu Squad were recorded in four counties each.
The findings suggest that the problem cannot be understood simply as a collection of isolated groups confined to individual neighbourhoods.
The NCRC report found that 82.3 per cent of respondents believed criminal gangs had proliferated and associated the groups with robbery, assault, general stealing and illicit drug distribution and trafficking. Extortion targeting matatu operators was also identified, pointing to how gangs can generate income by exploiting everyday economic activity.
Recruitment was another vulnerability. According to the report, it was “primarily through peer influence or friends”. Young people could be drawn into crime through their social networks and the promise of quick earnings, while those directing or financing criminal operations remained less visible.
The report also warned that criminal groups had “gained resilience through community complicity”. Fear of retaliation, mistrust of police and the influence gangs wield in communities can discourage residents from sharing information. Limited law enforcement resources, a lack of economic opportunities for young people, weak police-community collaboration, political interference or protection, and corruption within the criminal justice system were also identified as challenges.
NPS Spokesperson Nyaga agreed with this assessment and said, “Allegations of police involvement in criminal activity discourage communities from cooperating with investigators and we are working to fix this.”
National Police Service Spokesperson Michael Nyaga Muchiri during an interview at his Jogoo House office in Nairobi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The National Cohesion and Integration Commission’s (NCIC) 2025 report, The Evolution of Organised Criminal Gangs in Kenya, approached the problem through the relationship between gangs, politics and violence.
It identified about 29 gangs operating in the country, including Mbogi, Gaza, 42 Brothers, Bamba 40, Nduathi Culture, Brotherhood, Tonde, 10 Brothers, Landlord Boys and Taliban.
The report identified a recurring relationship between election periods and criminal violence, observing that “a clear pattern of heightened violence and criminality accompanies each electoral cycle”.
It described how groups could be mobilised through cash rewards, promises of protection, proceeds from looting, coercion and other inducements. The report also warned that organised criminal groups had historically infiltrated State institutions through corruption.
With the 2027 General Election approaching, the findings raise concerns about the potential mobilisation of criminal groups for political purposes, including intimidation and disruption of opponents’ activities.
The 2025 index, compiled by the Institute for Security Studies, the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime and Interpol, ranked Kenya as the worst affected by criminality among nine East African countries and fourth among 54 African countries, behind the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Nigeria.
Human trafficking and human smuggling were among the activities driving Kenya’s ranking. Extortion and protection racketeering, arms trafficking, counterfeit goods, narcotics trafficking and financial crimes were also identified as threats.
The index named groups including 42 Brothers and Mungiki among the major mafia-style operators and raised concerns about State-embedded actors. It described how criminal organisations could exploit corruption to maintain influence and engage in activities ranging from trafficking in drugs and people to arms trading and extortion, sometimes with assistance from government officials.
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“Collaboration with political figures, particularly during election periods, enables them to secure power,” the report stated, adding that these groups could resort to violence or threats to maintain their influence. It also cited collusion between criminal networks and State officials, including law enforcement officers and politicians, as a factor enabling organised crime.
The findings echo concerns about the links between street-level offenders and the networks that finance, facilitate or profit from their actions. On October 1, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations arrested 13 suspects after raiding a Nairobi godown where they recovered 65 fake gold bars and 31 boxes containing counterfeit notes worth a reported $750,000 (Sh97.2 million).
For Mr Nyaga, tackling these networks requires intelligence-led investigations and stronger cooperation among institutions.
“The NPS and the National Intelligence Service has stepped up intelligence gathering against criminal gangs, including groups involved in cattle rustling in volatile parts of northern Kenya.
From left: Regional Criminal Investigations Officer (RCIO) Daniel Kandie, The Nairobi Regional Police Commander Issa Mohamud, Nairobi North Sub-Region Commander Justus Lumali and Makadara OCPD Judith Nyongesa look at some of the stolen 120 phones, tablets and other valuables recovered in an operation.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation
Many of the young people we see wreaking havoc are hired at short notice to achieve a particular political objective such as heckling or cheering, while other criminal operations were supported by more organised structures, he said. In drug trafficking, for example, couriers could deliver small quantities while a kingpin operated behind the scenes.
Security analyst James Chemiati said political goodwill was essential to dismantling gangs, particularly where politicians were alleged to facilitate their activities.
“We have something that in the fullness of time we may not be able to control as a country. You find very intelligent people with no jobs. This is where they find themselves because of the (unemployment) situation in our country,” the former Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) head of intelligence and security said.
Young people without viable economic opportunities, Mr Chemiati added, were vulnerable to recruitment and politicians often exploit their circumstances to intimidate competitors.
To survive beyond the election period, some of the youth then turn to drug trafficking, cybercrime and other illegal activities. He argued that security agencies need political backing to act against powerful individuals suspected of sustaining criminal networks.
“We just need people like the late former Internal Security minister John Michuki. There was political goodwill when he tackled Mungiki and we need that kind of goodwill now,” he said.
Security analyst George Musamali explained that gangs are groups associated over time through a shared identity, purpose or territory, while criminal gangs were organised groups involved in crime or violence, often with names, symbols, leadership structures and areas they claimed.
Their activities could include extortion, robbery, drug trafficking and turf wars, he said. Mr Musamali traced Kenya’s gang culture to the early 1990s, when political youth groups were tolerated, arguing that rival political formations subsequently adopted similar approaches and the phenomenon evolved into a national security threat.
He cited groups such as Mungiki, Baghdad Boys, Chinkororo, Gaza as examples of groups that had been described in different contexts as vigilantes or criminal gangs.
“Ultimately, political goodwill and meaningful punishment for those behind criminal activities must be enforced,” he said.
All the security experts and the reports agree on one thing – dismantling criminal gangs requires more than arrests.
Investigators must trace financing, identify buyers of stolen goods and prosecute those providing logistical support and protection. Police-community cooperation, witness protection and economic alternatives for vulnerable youth are equally critical. With election-related violence and corruption concerns persisting, police, intelligence agencies, prosecutors and courts must coordinate to pursue gang leaders, financiers and influential enablers.
Without accountability and effective investigations, arrests risk removing individual offenders while leaving intact the networks and markets that sustain organised crime.
