Three arrested after Tanzania truck ferrying maize worth Ksh.1.7M stolen in Kajiado

Police in Kajiado County on Monday arrested three suspects linked to last week’s theft of a Nairobi-bound Tanzanian truck loaded with maize worth Ksh.1.7 million.

Per a March 19 police report, the lorry was headed to Nairobi’s Industrial Area. The driver parked it at Maduka ya Juu in Kajiado in the company of a woman “physically known to him”, whom police say boarded the truck at Kenya-Tanzania’s Namanga border point.

“While the driver briefly stepped away to use a nearby restroom, he returned to find the woman holding two soft drinks. After consuming one, he began feeling drowsy and fell asleep inside the vehicle,” detectives from the Directorate of Investigations (DCI) said.

The driver reportedly regained consciousness the following day, where he found himself on the ground, with both the lorry and the woman missing.

“Swift investigations led to crucial forensic breakthroughs, culminating in the recovery of the lorry stripped of its cargo and abandoned in Embakasi,” the DCI added.

Rachael Nyambura Njuu, 29, Ann Nyambura Maina, 32, and 39-year-old Mark Oluoch Mumasaba were arrested and await arraignment.

Detectives said they established that the stolen maize was offloaded in Kiandutu, Thika, and sold to Swami Z millers based in Makongeni.

The millers have been summoned for further interrogation while the lorry’s driver is in custody.