Five Ethiopians entered the nation illegally, and a POLICE officer has been detained for his involvement.
Following a tip from a worried citizen, Jacob Phiri, a Paramilitary Police officer stationed in Kasama and affiliated with the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), was identified early on Thursday.
Acting Public Relations Officer for the Department of Immigration Josephine Malambo said in a statement on Wednesday that the agency has also detained Ethiopian citizens between the ages of 20 and 25.
According to Ms. Malambo, the department learned from a concerned citizen that a group of alleged illegal immigrants was traveling from Nakonde Border to Lusaka in a white Toyota Mark X with the license plate AID 608.
Phiri, who was dressed in a police combat suit, was at the wheel.
“Phiri had moved from Kasama to Mpika to meet another Zambian only identified as Mr Chela Simbeye of Meanwood Lusaka, then proceeded to Nakonde to pick up the suspected immigrants and immediately left for Lusaka,” Ms Malambo stated.
She claimed that when Phiri arrived in Chisamba, she disregarded a stop sign, which led the officers to warn those at the Kabangwe checkpoint.
“The vehicle was intercepted and the suspected prohibited immigrants were apprehended while the driver escaped. Phiri was later apprehended at Chisamba check point as the alert truck driver who had given him a lift heading back north realized that something was amiss with the officer and tactfully alerted the officers who waited for him and apprehended him upon arrival,”
The Department has determined that the vehicle used to transport the immigrants from Nakonde to Zimbabwe across the Chirundu Border belonged to a Mr. Simbeye and was hired from Lusaka.
“The said officer was meant to transport the suspects and hand them over to an unknown smuggler at Chirundu. Efforts to lure the smuggler from the Zimbabwean side proved futile as he remained outside our jurisdiction and our officers could no longer pursue him but instead had an encounter with security officials from the Zimbabwean side,” she said.
The five Ethiopian suspects are currently detained pending prosecution, while Phiri and Simbeye have been charged with smuggling and aiding and abetting.
