𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝟏𝟒 𝐀𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢 𝐅𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐦

Three serving police officers are among 14 suspects arrested by detectives over an alleged fake gold and counterfeit US dollar operation in Nairobi.

The suspects were arrested on Thursday, October 1, after detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), based at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), raided a warehouse in the Vision Plaza Industrial Area.

According to the DCI, the operation followed a complaint made at the JKIA Police Station by a US national, who had allegedly been lured to Kenya over a gold transaction.

Detectives tracked the suspects to a warehouse behind Vision Plaza along Mombasa Road, where they recovered suspected counterfeit US currency, fake gold bars and materials believed to have been used to make counterfeit notes.

The three police officers are attached to the Security of Government Buildings (SGB) unit at Uhuru Camp. DCI said two of them were armed with Beretta pistols while the third had a pistol described as a Chalbi pistol.

The wider group included Kenyan nationals and foreign nationals from Nigeria, Cameroon and Sudan. The identities of all the suspects have been released by the DCI as investigations continue.

Detectives recovered 31 sealed black pallets from the warehouse. Three pallets contained 156 bundles of US$100 notes suspected to be counterfeit, while the remaining pallets contained cement.

A separate plastic box contained 65 gold bars suspected to be fake. Detectives also recovered assorted chemicals believed to have been intended for making counterfeit currency and papers printed with US dollar designs.

Other items seized included 13 additional bundles of suspected counterfeit US$100 notes, aluminium seals, seven cartons of UN blue plastic seals, two Kenya Revenue Authority reflector jackets, two empty suitcases, a pallet-strapping roll, a padlock cutter and a hacksaw.

The DCI said the recovered items had been secured as exhibits as detectives work to establish how the suspected operation was organised and the role played by each suspect.

“The scene was processed and the exhibits secured as investigations continue to establish the circumstances surrounding the suspected counterfeit currency operation and the identities and respective roles of those involved,” the DCI said.

The suspects remain in police custody as investigations continue, with the DCI saying appropriate legal action will follow once the investigations are completed.

In a separate operation at JKIA on the same day, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) customs officers intercepted 40 undeclared iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max smartphones valued at approximately KSh8.2 million.

The phones were recovered from a passenger who had arrived from Dubai. KRA said the passenger had entered Kenya four times within nine days and admitted that he was carrying the phones as a courier for a client in Dubai.

“KRA warns travellers against carrying undeclared goods for third parties,” the authority said.

The latest fake gold operation comes amid other cases involving alleged gold-related fraud.

In August, a Nairobi lawyer was charged over an alleged KSh37 million fake gold scam after prosecutors accused him of obtaining money from a businessman by falsely claiming he could facilitate the sale of 400 kilograms of gold.