Police have rescued five Bangladeshi nationals held against their will at a house in Sundra, Delmas, and arrested four suspected kidnappers.
The Bangladeshi men were kidnapped after they were unlawfully brought into South Africa allegedly by human traffickers.
While the Bangladeshi nationals were held at a smallholding near Delmas, the kidnappers demanded a ransom from their families.
However, police caught wind of the plight of the foreign nationals and launched a rescue operation.
The rescue operation involved members of the South African Police Service’s Gauteng Organised Crime, together with National Crime Intelligence, Johannesburg Flying Squad, Johannesburg Metro Police Department’s K-9 as well as private security.
Acting on information, the team on Sunday swooped on a house on John Voster Street and rescued the Bangladeshi nationals.
“The victims, aged between 20 and 37 years, were allegedly smuggled into the country illegally via Mozambique and locked inside a house for 17 days,” said Lieutenant Colonel Robert Netshiunda.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that suspects demanded ransom from the families of the victims.
During the raid, police also recovered three homemade firearms.
Those arrested in connection with the trafficking and kidnapping of foreign nationals include Pakistani nationals and two South Africans.
The arrested suspects, aged between 36 and 59 years old will appear before the Delmas Magistrate’s Court soon on charges of kidnapping, human trafficking, and unlawful possession of firearms.
