Two Congolese nationals and one Ugandan are being held by police in Old Kampala for allegedly possessing suspected stolen cars in the city.

The trio were apprehended on Wednesday during a Police Crime Intelligence operation on a suspicious garage near the Monallisa bar in Rubaga division.

According to police, this targeted operation was carried out in the Kayanja triangle area, specifically at Luwangula Auto Garage known for its involvement in altering car serial numbers, engine numbers and colours.

In a statement, Patrick Onyango, the Kampala metropolitan police spokesperson identified the suspects as Lawrence Luwaga, the owner of the garage and was arrested along with two Congolese asylum seekers identified as Nauru Sadi, a 45-year-old Congolese national and mandated refugee and Kasereka Patrick, a 38-year-old Congolese national, an asylum seeker, who has been in Uganda for less than two months.

"The suspects were found in possession of over fifteen cars of which four of them lacked authentic documents," Onyango said.

Amongst the suspected stolen vehicles included; a Nissan Patrol, Toyota Hilux, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Toyota Harrier all of which had different colors, altered serial numbers, engine numbers and modified engine numbers compared to the information on their documents.

Notably, all the vehicles bore Congo number plates.

The vehicles, along with their corresponding documents, were seized and towed to Old Kampala Police station for further examination.

Recently, the law enforcement agency, in collaboration with sister security agencies, has intensified its crackdown on car theft gangs across the country, resulting in the recovery of more than 50 cars in two months.

In May, police recovered 15 suspected stolen vehicles from an Iganga district dismantling garage and arrested seven suspects.