14 Ethiopians found hiding in horse cabins nabbed, to appear before Immigration authorities

A Joint Team of Immigration and Police Officers in Isoka has apprehended 14 Ethiopians for failure to appear before an Immigration Officer.

The undocumented immigrants were discovered in the early hours of February 14, 2023 at Mwaiseni Checkpoint.

They were concealed in Horse Cabins and improvised wooden compartment of the Chassis of two Tanzanian registered Trucks and Trailers, according to Namati Nshinka, Department of Immigration Public Relations Officer.

Nshinka said the Ethiopians were discovered when an alert Immigration Officer, during a routine inspection, noticed a wooden compartment on the chassis of one of the trucks and after further inspection noticed some Ethiopians hidden inside the compartment.

“This prompted the Officers to thoroughly check both trucks and discovered and apprehended a total of 14 Ethiopians and Alley Mussa Amory the Tanzanian Driver of the DAF truck registration number T195DWX belonging to Asilia Logistics,” he said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Read more: Immigration deports 62 Ethiopian victims of suspected human trafficking

Nshinka however said Hussein Julius Mvula, the Driver of the Scania truck registration number T879 DQV belonging to EPIC Haulage Company Limited escaped.

He said Alley Mussa Amory and the 14 Ethiopians have since been taken into custody while the DAF and Scania trucks have been impounded.

“The Trucks were carrying a combined total of 1,283 bales of second hand clothes (Salaula) destined for Lusaka. A man-hunt for the Driver of the Scania truck has been launched,” Nshinka said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration on February 13, 2023 apprehended 18 persons for various immigration offences countrywide, secured 12 convictions and refused nine foreign nationals entry into the country for failing to meet entry requirements.

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