The Kano State Multi-Agency Task Force on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking has warned tricycle owners against allowing their vehicles to be used for criminal activities after confiscating a commercial tricycle linked to a notorious phone-snatching syndicate known as Yan Liya.
The chairman of the task force, Muhuyi Magaji Rimin Gado, gave the warning on Tuesday while briefing journalists on the committee’s activities, two months after its inauguration by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.
Rimin Gado said the task force identified, arrested and secured the conviction of a member of the syndicate, adding that the tricycle used in the operation was also forfeited.
According to him, the Yan Liya gang specialises in using commercial tricycles, popularly known as Adaidaita Sahu or Keke Napep, to steal people’s phones across the state.
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“The suspect confessed that he cannot even count the number of phones his syndicate has stolen,” Rimin Gado said.
He alleged that some tricycle owners knowingly rent out their vehicles to criminals and collect higher payments because they are aware of the illegal activities.
“Instead of collecting the normal half-day payment, they often double the money, having full knowledge of what their Keke Napep is being used for,” he said.
The task force chairman urged residents to be vigilant when boarding commercial tricycles and warned owners that they would face serious consequences if their vehicles were used for crime.
“The Task Force will not only arrest the rider, but will secure forfeiture of the tricycle itself. No instrument of crime will be returned,” he said.
The crackdown on the phone-snatching syndicate is part of wider operations carried out by the task force since its inauguration on July 22.
Rimin Gado said the committee had arrested more than 380 suspects and secured more than 230 convictions during joint operations targeting drug abuse, thuggery and other related crimes across Kano.
He said the operations also led to the recovery of illicit drugs, including cannabis, tramadol, pregabalin and diazepam, as well as dangerous weapons such as knives, cutlasses, daggers and clubs seized from criminal hideouts.
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