Mbombela (Nelspruit) – Police in Mpumalanga intercepted a minibus taxi full of passengers from Bangladesh and Pakistan who had entered South Africa illegally.
Police said 24 suspects including the driver were arrested.
Narrating events leading to the arrests, Hawks spokesperson in Mpumalanga Captain Dineo Sekgotodi said: “On Monday, (13 November 2023), at about 10:00, an intelligence-driven disruptive operation was conducted by the Nelspruit Crime Intelligence and Highway patrol along N4 and R38 roads”.
Captain Sekgotodi said the police acted on information from a reliable source about a white Toyota Quantum that was transporting passengers suspected to be undocumented foreign nationals.
The Quantum was spotted on R38 headed toward Low’s Creek in the area of Kaapmuiden.
Captain Sekgotodi said once the minibus taxi was stopped the 33-year-old driver was interviewed to determine the originality of the passengers.
“The driver informed the police that he was instructed to pick people from the road to Delmas,” said Captain Sekgotodi.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation – better known as the Hawks – then took over the investigation.
“Preliminarily investigation revealed that 23 foreign nationals aged between 14 and 46 were being transported. Fourteen Pakistani and nine Bangladeshi nationals,” said Captain Sekgotodi.
“Amongst the group, were two minors aged 14 and 17 years old.
“The driver of the Quantum was arrested on charges of Contravening the Trafficking in Persons Act 7 of 2013, Aiding and Abetting.
“It was also discovered that some passengers had passports but some did not. Those available passports were unstamped.”
Captain Sekgotodi said the arrested suspects will make their first court appearance at Barberton District Court on Wednesday, (15 November 2023).
