A multi-agency security team in Samburu has recovered an illegal firearm as a crackdown on bandits in the Northern region intensifies.
In a statement, the National Police Service said the rifle was recovered during an intelligence-led operation at Ndonyowasin Village on Sunday, November 27.
The operation led by teams comprising National Police Service officers, National Government Administration officers and personnel from the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), was convened to arrest suspects linked to a recent incident of illegal grazing and an attack at Kalepo Camp.
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"A search was conducted at the home of one of the suspects which led to the recovery of an AK-47 rifle with a loaded magazine," NPS said.
MULTI-AGENCY SECURITY TEAM RECOVERS FIREARM IN SAMBURU. pic.twitter.com/cpuXD8P7Iy— National Police Service-Kenya (@NPSOfficial_KE) November 27, 2022
Efforts are underway to arrest the suspects still at large.
The recovered firearm is in the custody of the police pending ballistic examination.
On November 21, police arrested a suspected cattle rustler and recovered a similar rifle in Turkana.
Police said the suspect was arrested in Turkana Central following a tip-off from concerned members of the public.
The suspect is said to have been part of a group of four men sighted in California village armed with an AK 47 rifle.
"The swift response by officers from Lodwar Police Station who conducted a raid at a rented house led to the recovery of the firearm," NPS said adding that the arrested suspect is the owner of the house.
"The NPS calls upon members of public to partner with us in crime prevention by continuously sharing information," NPS added.
The arrest came a week after the government deployed multi-agency security teams to the troubled Northern region, after a series of attacks.
In his first press conference on the security situation in the country on Monday, October 14, Kindiki warned that the government is not only targeting the bandits terrorising residents but the entire chain that has been the cattle rustling industry including financiers, beneficiaries and sympathisers.
Kindiki indicated that what is happening in the Northern part of the country borders crimes against humanity.
"It's increasingly appearing that what's happening in the Northern part of this country would very easily constitute crimes against humanity. Therefore the government is deploying multifaceted, multi-agency responses to the problem of banditry. We have information where they have been retreating to, we know the challenges that have been associated in the past in getting to them," he said.
"We want to make it clear as government that we are coming to dismantle not only the criminals themselves but also to bring down the entire chain that has been the livestock rustling industry: the financiers, spiritual supporters, the benefactors and those who purchase livestock stolen from Kenyans."
The response, the CS said, will be sustained until normalcy returns in the affected areas.
