Four vehicles recovered as police find Busia stores dealing in stolen car parts

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A police patrol car is seen on June 5, 2023 at Katanga, Arubaine Village in Busia Town where police bust rackets that have allegedly been dealing in spare parts obtained from suspected stolen vehicles. PHOTO/DAVID AWORI

An intelligence-led operation bypolice has found three stores selling spare parts from suspected stolen vehicles in Katanga, a crime-ridden area in Arubaine Village, Busia Municipality.

During the operation on Monday, at least four cars were recovered in the stores’ parking yard with their engines, tyres, steering wheels, headlamps, doors and number plates missing, fueling suspicion that they were stolen.

Didas Byaruhanga, the Busia District Police Commander who led the operation, said the cars include a Toyota Select saloon car registration number UAH358P, Isuzu BigHorn Station Wagon registration number UAK 587L, a Toyota Hilux pickup registration number UAY158K and a numberless silvery green Toyota Progress saloon car.

“We are also investigating whether those found with number plates are their genuine registration numbers,” Byaruhanga said, adding that preliminary investigations suggest that the store owners have been stealing vehicles from various parts of the country, dismantling them and reselling them as spare parts.

Byaruhanga added that the suspects, who are on the run, have been working with rackets in various parts of the country, whose modus operandi involves stealing cars, and driving them to Busia Town.

According to Byaruhanga, Busia District’s border location has made it conducive for the suspects to dismantle vehicles and sell their spare parts across the border in Kenya.

Michael Kibwika, the Busia Resident District Commissioner (RDC), said that once a vehicle was in Busia, it would be dismantled and taken across where it is reassembled.

“They have been selling Fuso truck engine for as low as Shs1.2m while that of saloon cars goes for less than Shs1m,” Kibwika said, adding that “since last year, the police have made inroads in clamping down cases of car theft.”

Kibwika said police are working on clues that the suspects fled to Kenya noting that they are going to be arrested and arraigned in court anytime.

Siraji Omunyu, a local leader in Arubaine Village, said the men who are the run, had for “several years operated a booming trade in car parts obtained from dismantled vehicles, and was surprised when the store owners fled upon seeing police.”