Detectives have arrested three suspects in Tassia, Embakasi, after finding a stash of grenades and ammunition hidden in two houses in the area.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said the operation began with a tip-off. Acting on the information, officers went to a residential house in Tassia Stage, Nairobi, where they found two brothers and took them in for questioning.
A search of the house turned up a brown leather bag. Inside were six CS smoke hand grenades, four Model 2020 hand-thrown tear gas grenades and one 64mm CS smoke hand grenade. Detectives also found three 37/38mm tear gas grenades meant to be fired from a rifle, one 37/38mm flash-bang grenade and 16 rounds of 7.62mm blank ammunition.
The two brothers then reportedly took the officers to a second house near Triple M Supermarket, still within Tassia. A third suspect was arrested there.
The items recovered are normally used by security agencies. CS grenades release irritant gas to disperse crowds, and they are common in riot control and in enforcing public order. What remains unclear is how such equipment ended up in private homes. The DCI has not said where the suspects got the items or what they planned to do with them.
Crime scene officers documented both scenes before collecting the items as exhibits for forensic examination.
The three suspects are in police custody as detectives process them ahead of their expected arraignment. Investigators are trying to establish how the suspects came to have the devices and what they intended to use them for. They are also checking whether the suspects have links to other criminal activities.
