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File image: Police conduct anti-human trafficking operation.
Gauteng police are investigating a suspected human trafficking case after 32 foreign nationals escaped from a house where they were held captive in Lombardy East, Johannesburg.
Neighbours were alerted to the scene after hearing strange noises of people banging on doors and breaking windows. They then called security guards who alerted the police.
The victims, the youngest being 13 years old, were then taken to Sandringham Police Station for processing. No one has been arrested so far.
Speaking to SABC News, the foreign nationals say they were lured to South Africa with promises of jobs and better opportunities.
Provincial Police Spokesperson, Mavela Masondo says, “We found out that they are all from Ethiopia and preliminary investigations led us to a house here in Lombardy East where it is alleged that these people were kept against their will, and indeed we found that the door was broken and it shows that they forced themselves out.”
Masondo says some have been kept in the property for close to a year now.
He says, “We are still searching for the owner of this house and also trying to gather more information on how did they ended up in this country, and we are still trying to establish who can be held accountable or liable.”
Masondo says this is not the first case of this nature to happen in this area.
He says, “Indeed we will work with the Border Management Authority (BMA) to try and find a workable solution because you will find out that there are people as young as 13 that are in the country illegally. We keep on wondering how did they end up in our country? But we will work with BMA to fight this.”
VIDEO | 32 escape alleged human trafficking in Lombardy East:
