Kenya and the United Kingdom have agreed to strengthen their fight against criminal networks involved in human trafficking, migrant smuggling and document fraud in East Africa.
The agreement was formalised on Thursday, September 3, when the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the DCI headquarters in Nairobi.
The ceremony was attended by DCI Director Mohamed Amin and British High Commissioner to Kenya Matt Baugh.
As part of the deal, the UK also handed over a fleet of operational vehicles to the DCI. The vehicles will be used by investigators working on cases involving organised immigration crime.
The support is being provided under the UK’s East Africa Border Security Programme, which focuses on improving cooperation between countries in dealing with criminal groups operating across borders.
Baugh said organised immigration crime was a shared threat, with criminal networks taking advantage of vulnerable people while making money from illegal migration activities.
He said the vehicles would help Kenyan investigators reach affected areas, intercept suspects and pursue criminal networks.
Kenyans Among Victims
The partnership comes as cases of Kenyans being caught up in trafficking and other forms of organised immigration crime continue to emerge.
A report from the State Department for Diaspora Affairs shows that 583 Kenyans were identified among 4,928 people repatriated from more than 20 countries between 2023/24 and 2025/26.
Some Kenyans have also been rescued from scam compounds in Southeast Asia, where victims are reportedly forced to take part in online criminal activities.
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi previously told the Senate that more than 751 Kenyans had been rescued from Myanmar between 2022 and 2026. Another 393 were rescued from Cambodia between January and April 2026.
New DCI Team to Benefit
The vehicles will support the DCI’s Counter Organised Immigration Crime Team (COICT), a specialised unit launched in July 2026 to deal with organised immigration offences.
Amin said the new agreement would strengthen security cooperation between Kenya and the UK at a time when trafficking, migrant smuggling and document fraud were becoming more complicated.
He said sharing intelligence and working together would be important in tracking criminal networks that operate across borders.
According to Amin, the vehicles will give the specialised team better capacity to respond to cases, carry out field operations and follow up on investigations both within Kenya and beyond.
The DCI boss also assured the UK and other partners that the vehicles would be put to proper use in investigations and in protecting people vulnerable to trafficking.
He said the wider aim was to ensure suspects involved in such crimes are identified and taken through the justice system.