By Colonel Katlego Mogale
HAWKS spokesperson
A joint effort by the Fox Security, JHB Metro Police, SAPS Mondeor and the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation’s Trafficking in persons section, resulted in the arrest of a 47-year-old foreign national in the Johannesburg CBD and the rescue of ten teenage boys.
It is reported that whilst on patrol duties, the JMPD member were alerted to a bizarre scenario unfolding alongside Broad Street, in Mulbarton.
They were alerted to a group of eight half-naked teenagers walking on foot.
Upon further inquiries, the officers established that the teenagers were foreign nationals who could not speak English.
The officers were also informed that there were two more boys who had already been taken away in a blue VW Jetta.
The vehicle was later intercepted along the street, but the driver fled, resulting in a high-speed chase which ended in Commissioner Street with the subsequent arrest of the suspect and the rescue of the two half-naked teenagers.
The suspect will appear in the Booysens Magistrates court on Thursday, 08 January 2025 on charges of being an illegal immigrant and suspected trafficking in persons.
Further investigations are underway.
The Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in Gauteng, Major General Ebrahim Kadwa lauded the multi-disciplinary effort displayed by team in the combatting of trafficking in persons in the province.
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