With the concealed items discovered and the attempted cellbreak plot uncovered, the visitor was arrested and placed in custody.Officers at Ruai police station have thwarted what would have been a well-orchestrated jailbreak.
What initially appeared to be a normal visit to remandees was found to be a disguised plot to sneak hardware tools into the cells to help suspects break out and escape.
A report from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) says an 18-year-old woman walked into the station requesting to see three friends held over robbery with violence and gang rape.
In her hands, she carried a plate of rice and meat, packed with what she claimed was nothing more than a meal for the three suspects.
The suspects are being held at the station for allegedly operating an anonymous TikTok page, which they allegedly used to lure young women into meetings before gang-raping and robbing them of their valuables.
The DCI said the visitor strolled into the station's reception with all the calm of an innocent visitor, but the seemingly routine visit, however, did not escape the cell sentry's attention.
"A routine scoop through the food led to a shocking discovery: buried beneath the meal lay a pair of pliers and a shear, cold-steel tools meant to aid the escape of the three suspects," the DCI said.
With the concealed items discovered and the attempted cellbreak plot uncovered, the visitor was arrested and placed in custody.
The DCI said the concealed tools now form part of a wider investigation into who else could be involved in the attempted plot to free the three suspects.
"The DCI reminds members of the public that aiding or attempting to aid an escape from lawful custody is a serious criminal offence,` and those found committing such acts will be met with the full force of the law."
The three suspects were arrested on September 5 by DCI officers in Ruai for allegedly contacting young women on TikTok and arranging physical meetings with them.
Once the women agreed to meet, they were allegedly led to secluded or abandoned areas, where what began as seemingly ordinary encounters turned into ordeals of sexual violence and robbery.
In some cases, the DCI said, the victims were allegedly forced to transfer mobile money to accounts controlled by the suspects, while others were robbed of their mobile phones and other valuables.
The suspects were arrested in the Benedicta area of Ruai following a forensic trail.
Six mobile phones were recovered from the suspects, alongside two hooded jackets allegedly used to conceal their identities while committing the crimes.
The DCI said identifications linked the suspects to five separate incidents in separate incidents reported in Buruburu, Embakasi and Ruai.
