Police foil jet fuel theft plot at Wilson Airport, arrest four

Security officers at Wilson Airport have stopped an attempt to steal and move 800 litres of jet fuel from an aircraft under maintenance, exposing what investigators say was a well-planned operation disguised as normal airport activity.

In a statement on Monday, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said detectives from the Kenya Airports Police Unit intercepted a white Mitsubishi Canter, registration KBM 647D, inside the airport. The vehicle was carrying four drums filled with jet fuel, each holding 200 litres, as it moved through the busy facility.

“While it tried to blend into the shadows of routine airport activity, the vehicle was carrying a heavy secret: four drums, each brimming with 200 litres of jet fuel,” the report stated.

Early findings show the fuel had been siphoned from an aircraft at the NASD hangar run by Airworks Aviation, where it was undergoing maintenance. Investigators believe the aircraft’s downtime created an opening for the theft.

Police said the suspects attempted to transport the fuel without the required approvals.

The alleged owner of the consignment, Gladys Ndumba Kanairo, did not have a gate pass, while the vehicle had no clearance from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority to move petroleum products.

Kanairo was arrested alongside the driver, Timothy Wambugu Maina, and two others, Kennedy Njoka Kinuthia and Abdulmalik Musinga, at the scene.

“Their plan to fly under the radar crashed, as the law caught up with the suspects before they could make their unauthorised exit,” the statement added.

The suspects are being processed as they await court action, while the vehicle and the recovered fuel have been secured as exhibits.

Authorities say the operation appears to have been carefully organised to take advantage of routine airport movements and ongoing maintenance work.

Investigations are continuing to establish whether more people were involved and if similar incidents may have gone unnoticed in the past.