Three vehicles confirmed stolen inINTERPOL’s Motor Vehicles data base, have been intercepted by Kenyan Detectives concealed in two containers on transit to Uganda from the United Kingdom. The three vehicles a Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Vogue and Land Rover Discovery were discovered after an alert was issued from the National Vehicles Crime Intelligence Service.
Police say that the verification of the vehicles has already been done by KRA officers.
Police are believed to have used leading-edge technology and forensic intelligence which allowed authorities to not only discover the stolen vehicles in the first place, but safely repatriate them back to their owners.
Luxury right-hand-drive cars are in great demand in land-locked Uganda, where locals still drive on the left as part of the British colonial legacy but import companies struggle to transport new vehicles.
A few years back, a stolen Lexus from London led to the discovery of a smuggling ring after the SUV was taken in April, and later tracked to Le Havre, in France, where it was shipped across the Mediterranean Sea and through the Suez Canal down to the Middle Eastern nation of Oman.
It was then shipped to Mombasa in Kenya before being transported by road to Kampala – where locals drive on the right-hand side – in a steel container.
The tracking app even allowed police to identify how corrupt officials in both Kenya and Uganda, infiltrate the criminal syndicate and understand its operation.
Thieves are able to bypass security by using equipment intended only for mechanics – while manufacturers try to stay one step ahead by updating software.
National Crime Agency regional manager Paul Stanfield, who tracked the vehicle and uncovered the smuggling gang, said: ‘This investigation is an excellent example of the close co-operation between the UK National Crime Agency, National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, Interpol and [anti-fraud investigators] APU to tackle the increasing threat from organised vehicle crime.
‘Working with the police and security services in Kenya and Uganda, we have been able to dismantle an international criminal network that has been responsible for stealing high-value cars from the UK and exporting them to East Africa.’