After two days security operation has yielded with recovery of Sh52million fake money in US Dollars and arrest of a foreigner dealing with fake money in different currencies in Nairobi.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations attached to the Trans-National Organised Crime Unit recovered the money at Arafat Ikumu Omar’s house at Sapphire Heights Apartments along George Padmore Road in Nairobi.
At the time, Omar escaped police dragnet but he was arrested in his other house at Dayykio Apartments along Oledume Road. At Sapphire Heights Apartments, police forcefully gained entry into door A3 on the second floor in Block A after occupants failed to open. A house help and two children, a boy and a girl aged 8 and 12 years respectively were locked inside the house.
Upon search, police recovered a firearm certificate, 98 rounds of ammunition of 9mm caliber, USD 523,900 fake money and two safe that contained Sh 140,000 and Sh 481,200 respectively.
The fake Dollars were in 100 denomination. “The suspect has been under surveillance and he is one of the fake money printing syndicate operating in the country.” A senior detective said. A day after, the detectives received intelligence report that Omar was hiding at Apartments where they managed to arrest him and recovered a Taurus Pistol serial number JT81887 loaded with 17 rounds of ammunition.
In 2016, CID officers smashed a cross border fake money printing ring and recovered Sh112billion fake currency. Two foreign kingpins, a Niger national Mohammed Sani alias Mustafa and Cameroonian citizen Ousman Bako were arrested at Kilimani and Diamond Estate along Mombasa Road respectively.
They were in possession of 693million US Dollars (Sh71billion) and 369million (Sh41billion) Euros in Nairobi totaling to over Sh112billion all in fake hard currency. The money was allegedly shipped from war torn and extremist controlled Syria in the Middle East.