Police have arrested two suspects after recovering approximately one tonne of stolen Kenya Power steel conductors during an intelligence-led operation in Shanzu, Mombasa County.
According to the National Police Service (NPS), officers from Bamburi Police Station acted intelligence after receiceiving information that young men from a certain group had been spotted carrying wire cables which were suspected to have been stolen from Kenya Power.
The officers set up an ambush in the Shanzu area where the steel conductors were found hidden in a bush.Preliminary investigations established that the recovered conductors had been stolen from the Shanzu Substation.
The two suspects were arrested and are in police custody awaiting their arraignment in court on the relevant charges.Police also found three mobile phones at the scene, which have been secured as exhibits to assist with the investigations.
Authorities say that tracing and arresting other suspects believed to be involved in the theft is in progress.The NPS have issued a warning that stealing and vandalizing electricity infrastructure continues to pose a major threat to the country’s power network and economic growth.
According to police, criminal elements that target substations transformers conductors and other electrical equipment cause the cutting off of the electricity supply to homes businesses schools, hospitals, and other critical services.
Besides that, such acts usually result in the occurrence of power outages that last for a rather long time, an increase in the costs of repair and operation, the destruction of public infrastructure, and financial losses of significant magnitude.