South Africa police find 26 naked Ethiopians held by suspected traffickers Three people arrested after group escapes Johannesburg house by breaking a window and burglar bar.
South African police have rescued 26 Ethiopians from a suspected human trafficking ring in Johannesburg after the group broke a window and burglar bar to escape from a house where they were being held naked.
Three people were arrested on suspicion of people trafficking and possessing an illegal firearm on Thursday night after neighbours in the Sandringham suburb heard the commotion and tipped off the police, the Hawks serious crime unit said in a statement.
“The signs that we have is this is a human trafficking matter, because they were actually escaping from that house and they were kept naked, almost as if it’s a modus operandi to keep them humiliated and not trying to escape,” said Philani Nkwalase, a police spokesperson.
There are about 2.4 million foreign-born people in South Africa out of the 62 million population, according to the 2022 census, which aimed to count people regardless of immigration status.
