Mombasa County Commissioner Maalim Mohamed has said security has been beefed up in the county.
Speaking on Sunday during the close of the Inaugural Human Rights and Security Project for Mombasa County, Maalim said 30 criminals have been arrested in the past two weeks.
The commissioner however said over 35 criminal gangs were terrorising residents in Mombasa.
"We have profiled them and we know that there are close to 40 such gangs. We have done sector by sector deployment and we have set up a 24-hour surveillance tracking their movements,” said Maalim as quoted by the Standard.
Maalim further said efforts had been beefed up to ensure more suspects are brought to book.
"In the last two weeks, we have arrested 21 members of Wakali Wao in Kisauni Sub-County, eight members of Wakali Kwanza in Mombasa Sub-County and one member of Watalia gang in Likoni," said Maalim.
The commissioner said police had also launched investigations to establish whether politicians could be funding the gangs, adding that no one will be allowed to disrupt campaigns in the county.
"We shall ensure that as we approach the elections, all stakeholders abide by the electoral rules and regulations to ensure that the exercise is peaceful,” he said.
Speaking at the same function, National Police Service Commission (NPSC) Commissioner Mohamed Murshid said there were enough officers to deal with criminal gangs and protect Kenyans.
"Upon the enactment of the new Constitution, the government set out to carry out holistic and drastic changes to the police service and one of them was to ensure that there are enough if not sufficient police officers as per globally acceptable standards," he said.