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Six held for human trafficking
22/02/2006 15:03 - (SA)
Maputo - Six men were arrested in Maputo, Mozambique, for allegedly smuggling people from that country to South Africa, said reports.
The reports said that the men, all Mozambicans, were arrested while travelling on a gravel road linking Maputo to Witbank. They were transporting 43 people in two cars on Friday night.
Mozambique's interior ministry spokesperson Ilidio Miguel was quoted as saying that many people were smuggled into South Africa from Mozambique's poor areas, lured with promises of employment.
Once in the country the women were mainly sold as sex slaves, while the men were paid exploitation wages in more conventional jobs.
Miguel said that the suspects were co-operating with authorities, providing useful information into how such syndicates worked.
He said: "We believe that, with the detention of these people we will learn clues to arrest the other members of the group."
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