The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and INTERPOL have uncovered suspected vehicle identity fraud in Kenya after detectives traced a luxury Land Rover to a theft report in the United Kingdom during a nationwide crackdown on motor vehicle crime.
The grey Land Rover Discovery was found at a motor vehicle yard along Nairobi’s Northern Bypass during an operation dubbed Operation Carback II, a week-long multi-agency operation targeting local and international vehicle theft networks.
A check against the INTERPOL database established that the vehicle had been reported stolen in the UK.
Detectives later impounded it and moved it to DCI headquarters as investigations began into how it ended up in a Kenyan motor vehicle yard.
A collage of a multi-agency team inspecting vehicles at different car yards in Nairobi on October 17, 2026.
Photo
DCI
The DCI said the operation involved checking vehicles against international records to identify those linked to cross-border crime, with the Land Rover recovery providing a direct link between a vehicle found in Kenya and a theft report in the UK.
“A major breakthrough in the fight against transnational motor vehicle crime has seen detectives recover a luxury vehicle stolen in the United Kingdom in an operation targeting local and transnational motor vehicle theft syndicates,” the DCI confirmed.
“The multi-agency team brought together the NTSA, KRA, ODPP, Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS), Kenya Police Service and Administration Police Service.”
During the week-long crackdown, detectives physically inspected more than 1,800 vehicles and checked over 260,000 against the INTERPOL database, according to the DCI.
In Thika West, detectives also found a white Mercedes-Benz Kompressor whose registration details matched an orange Suzuki station wagon, prompting further investigations into the syndicate.
Additionally, in Embakasi, detectives recovered a forklift whose records identified it as a crawler. Its chassis number had been obliterated, prompting further investigations by DCI Embakasi.
The findings emerged from inspections across Nairobi, Eastern, Central, Nyanza, Western, Coast and Rift Valley regions.
Sources close to the investigations also revealed that detectives targeted motor vehicle yards, showrooms, garages, spare-parts shops, bazaars and highway checkpoints.
DCI boss Amin Mohamed, during an event at the National Investigations Academy on September 17, 2026.
Photo
DCI