Car theft goes high-tech as thieves use coded devices to break into vehicles

By David Odongo

Local police and Interpol officers inspect cars believed to have been stolen.

On Thursday, April 25, Ms Nelly Adika parked her car, a Toyota RunX on Njugu Lane, off Koinange Street. It was a few minutes past 6pm. She was late for her evening classes and was very lucky to get parking space. She picked her handbag and got out of her car. She pressed a button on her car keys, and heard two shrill sound effects from the car alarm. She didn’t look back, comfortable, that she had locked her car.

Two hours later, upon leaving class, Nelly spent another 30 minutes in a nearby supermarket, doing some shopping, and loaded with groceries, she headed for her car. The two months old Toyota Runx was not where she had parked it.

“I first thought I had parked it elsewhere, and started scouring the streets looking for my car. It eventually dawned on me that the car had been stolen,” says Nelly. She now recalls, when she pressed the lock button, she heard the alarm sound effect, but didn’t hear the doors actually lock. She has not recovered her car to date, and is still paying for the loan she took to buy the car.

Right equipment

According to IT expert Vincent Abwao, with the right equipment, the millisecond between the alarm sound effect going off and the door locks clamping is sufficient to halt the process midway. The hand-held “jammer” is made in China and costs as little as Sh7000, blocks the electronic signal sent by the owner’s key to lock the car.

“The alarms usually makes the sound first, then the doors lock, but with the frequency jamming device, all a thief needs is you to get out of the car, and as you start walking away, you press the button while he jams the frequency, the alarm will make the sound effect but the doors will not lock. Once you are gone, the thief will then simply get into your car and hit wire it and drive off.” Says Abwao. Some of the devices, Mr Abwao says, can be effective up to 100 metres. An Israeli trained security consultant Richard Tuta says high-tech thieves will even use code grabbing devices to gain access to high-end vehicles with keyless entry systems and push start buttons. He explains.

“Your car alarm button on your key holder or key exchanges signals with your car alarm receiver with a specific code. Those signals are carried by the radio waves that have a specified frequency. The code tells your car to lock or unlock a specific part be it the doors or the boot.” Explains Tuta. He reveals that the device thieves have acts as a code grabber, that will then read the transmission and grab the code, once they crack the code, when they send the signal to your car, the door or the boot opens automatically, and they now have access to your car. “What most people do not know is how easy it is to dismantle alarm systems. These systems were put in place by man, and anything that is built, can be easily disabled, no matter how complex” says Mr .

He says alarm systems has led to what is ‘collapse of deterrence.’ Alarms are simply meant to let you know that someone has touched your car, but of what help is it if you are busy in a pub drinking while your car is getting stolen on the other side of town? What Kenyans need to do is look for other ways to secure their car. Technology can let you down, its never 100 per cent. Lock gears, lock steering wheels and give that watchman some little money to take care of your car. Its not worth losing a brand new Toyota just because you couldn’t give Sh20 to a watchman” says Tuta.

The alarm system and the tracking device can be disabled in less than 10 minutes. For the past two weeks, I camped at Baba Dogo garages. Most of the garages don’t do any actual repair work on cars. It seems they are in the business of selling second hand car parts. I pose as a client. I get the second garage near Unispan along Baba Dogo road. One mechanic is busy, spraying a car door, while a man in green overalls is standing a few meters away from the painting. I approach a man in a green overall and tap his shoulders. I introduce myself and ask if I can be able to get a I want gearbox for Toyota Corona

He tells me that it will take a few days to get the engine, as he has to ask a few friends.  “Its all perfectly legal, we buy the car spare parts from grounded vehicle or vehicles insurance companies have written off. Its nothing illegal.” Even though he insists its perfectly legal, he cant allow me to know the exact location where the spare parts are stored. Once I have given him the description, he will get me what I want. His price is Sh34,000.

Three other garages are selling assorted vehicles spares. Another garage give me a discount for a Prado’s roof at Sh70,000. I had told them that I was doing the inquiry on behalf of my boss. There are no receipts issued for any part bought. On the third garage, I inquire about Suzuki headlights and they inform me they have Suzuki Swift headlights for Sh14,000. In the shops, the same headlights are sold for Sh23,000.

Existing loopholes

A police source privy to the details on spare part sales says once your vehicle has been stolen, it will be taken to one of the many garages in Eastlands, especially Baba Dogo or Kariobangi where it will be ripped apart and sold in bits.

“What makes the business thrive is the fact that it is the big recognised garages that seek second hand parts from unlicensed smaller garages selling spare parts that have been stolen,” says our source. He adds that if your vehicle is stolen in the city, and the police have not recovered it in two days, then it has probably been broken down and your neighbour could be using your door on his car. Initially, Provincial Police Officers had the final say on who should own a spare parts shop. They licensed qualified applicants. But these powers were removed from them and given to town, municipal and city councils, whose vetting abilities are being questioned by police. Police attribute the thriving business in the black market to lack of regulation from the councils who took the role from them. It is suspected that some county officials are accomplices. “We no longer issue licenses. That is the work of the county authorities, some of who just dish out these documents without verification,” said Ms Wilfred Mbithe, the head of police operations in Nairobi. Head of Flying Squad Nyale Munga says not only vehicles are being stolen from Tanzania where there is a market for those robbed from Kenya.

Mr Munga decried existing loopholes in the spare parts licensing process that unscrupulous dealers are exploiting to sustain the black market. “It is difficult but we have tried our best in recovering some of the stolen cars,” he added. On a single day in the city, the unit handles on average five cases involving stolen vehicles, changed chassis or registration number plates.

Munga identified Eastlands for car theft notoriety. Police want the law changed, introducing harsh penalties on those found dealing in and possessing stolen cars.

Additional information by Hudson Gumbihi