In Nakonde, a suspected case of human trafficking and smuggling resulted in the arrest of 16 Somalis by a joint team of immigration and police officers.
The Joint Operation was carried out in the early hours of February 12, 2023, a Sunday.
Four Somalis were apprehended by immigration and police officers outside Nakonde Hospital, according to immigration public relations officer NAMATIO NSHINKA. This was done after a concerned member of the public reported seeing some foreign nationals who appeared to be stranded.
According to Mr. NSHINKA, the crew was guided to a residence in Ntindi Village with the help of one of the four who could speak English. There, they encountered a Zambian woman who refused to let them inside because she said that her father had the keys to the locked house and was not present.
He claims that as the officers broke down the door to the house, they were met by 12 more Somalis, bringing the total of those taken into custody to 16.
And the ambulance’s Zambian driver was also detained; he later directed the officers to two other Zambians who were allegedly the ambulance’s drivers the night before.
The ambulance has been confiscated and is being parked at the Nakonde Police Station.
72 people were detained between the 10th and the 12th of February 2023 for a variety of immigration offenses, according to Mr. NSHINKA, speaking to ZNBC news.
