Police in Lilongwe on Wednesday arrested two men for human trafficking.
Lilongwe Police Station spokesperson Kingsley Dandaula identified the suspects as Santon Abdullah 35, from Masindi village in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Malemia in Zomba and Yusuf Abdullah 35, from Nchokola village TA Kawinga in Machinga district.
He told the Malawi News Agency (Mana) that the suspects had received and registered 75 desperate people to travel to South Africa for employment.
The Police spokesperson said, Santon Abdullah registered 41 people and pocketed K2, 870,000 for transport from the job seekers from Zomba while Yusuf Abdullah registered 34 people and received K2, 380,000 for transport from the job seekers from Machinga and surrounding areas to travel to South Africa on Zamoro Bus Service.
“All the job seekers arrived in Lilongwe on October 13, 2016, unfortunately, the Zamoro bus that was supposed to ferry these job seekers to South Africa was on its’ way from South Africa but had a breakdown in Mozambique.
“Since the problem was going to take some days to be fixed, the owner of Zamoro bus (name withheld) offered shelter for the passengers at area 15/62 house in Lilongwe.
“The people stayed at the area 15 house for 7 days which made the neighbours suspicious and informed the police. Upon interviewing them, they mentioned the 2 suspects who were later arrested and admitted responsibility,”Dandaula said.
He said passports, travelling documents and bus tickets were all recovered and the suspects are expected to appear before the Lilongwe Magistrates court soon.
