Cybercrime in Mozambique increased by 16% last year
Mozambique: Police arrest Chinese citizen suspected of human trafficking – Lusa
6:04 CAT | 21 Aug 2024
Image: AIM
Mozambican police have arrested a Chinese man suspected of human trafficking in a vehicle in Maputo with eight alleged ‘victims’ who were allegedly promised jobs in Thailand, a source from the force announced today.
“The arrest resulted from an operation that had been ongoing for about a month,” said Hilário Lole, spokesperson for the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) in the city of Maputo, referring to 11 “national citizens who were recruited one by one by this Chinese citizen and by one other, who is at large, with promises of employment.”
The 43-year-old Chinese citizen was arrested on Saturday in a vehicle with eight people on their way to a hotel from where the victims were supposedly leaving on Sunday for Maputo International Airport, bound for Thailand.
According to the police, the suspect paid all expenses related to the trip, including tickets and visas, and promised the Mozambican nationals jobs in the construction and hotel sectors. The Mozambican citizens are aged between 22 and 32.
“They were all motivated by the promise that they would earn high salaries there,” Lole said, adding that none of the victims in fact travelled and that, in addition to the eight who were in the vehicle, three others had already given up on their travel plans.
Mozambique in 2022 recorded at least 38 victims of human trafficking being taken to South Africa, according to data released by the Mozambican Attorney General’s Office in July, 2023.
Source: Lusa
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