The Police Command in Kaduna State said its operatives have arrested an international car theft suspect and recovered an anti-tracker jammer in Kaduna.
The spokesperson of the command, ASP Mansir Hassan, confirmed this in a statement issued on Friday in Kaduna. Hassan said, “On May 27, at about 1830hrs, our operatives received a tip-off from a good Samaritan.
"An individual reported that he was requested to assist in collecting a Lexus LX470 Jeep from a mechanic.”
According to him, upon collecting the vehicle, he suspected it to be stolen and promptly reported it to the police. Hassan said following the report, the vehicle was recovered and brought to Magaji Gari police station in the Kaduna metropolis.
“A search was conducted, leading to the discovery of vehicle particulars bearing the name of the owner, along with his contact number.
“When contacted, the owner recounted that the car was snatched from him at gunpoint by five armed men at his residence in Utako, Abuja,” he said.
Hassan added that the police mobilised surveillance and managed to arrest the suspect, identified as Mubarak Kabiru from Kano, along Alkali Road, Kaduna. He added, “A search of his room at Ishacool Hotel, Kabala Doki, Kaduna, resulted in the recovery of an anti-tracking jammer.”
He said during interrogation, Kabiru confessed that, under the instruction of his boss, Dauda from Niger Republic. Kabiru also told the police that he had been transporting stolen vehicles from Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, and Abuja using the jammer to prevent tracking the stolen cars.
“These vehicles were then taken to border towns through Sokoto and Katsina and sold in the Niger Republic.
“Efforts are ongoing to apprehend the fleeing accomplices," Hassan added.
He said the suspect has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigations. A GPS jammer is a typically small, self-contained, transmitter device used to conceal one’s location by sending radio signals with the same frequency as a GPS device.
The GPS device cannot determine its position due to interference.