131 Ethiopians arrested for being in the country illegally

131 Ethiopian nationals were arrested at Athi River in Machakos County for being in the country illegally. 

According to Athi River Subcounty police commander Anderson Njagi, police officers  flashed the foreigners out from a rented house at Sabaki estate within Athi River town suburbs where they found them hiding. 

Officers from Kenya National Police Service from Athi River Sub County and Transnational Crime detectives from the DCI headquarters conducted the operatios on Friday. 

Njagi told a local publication, “The intelligence-led operations involving Transnational Crime detectives from the DCI headquarters and ourselves led to the arrest of 131 Ethiopians hidden at residential premises within Sabaki estate.” 

The police boss said those arrested were men without any identification documentation and legal documents permitting them to be in the country.

During the operations, a white car, a Toyota Land Cruiser was recovered from the premises. 

The suspects are in police custody at Athi River, Kyumbi and Machakos police stations awaiting to be arraigned in court on Monday.

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Reportedly, the suspects were living together, sharing rooms under poor conditions.

“They slept on mattresses spread on the floor with utensils scattered all over.  The men cooked alone under unhygienic conditions exposing themselves to lots of health risks,” an anonymous  source said. 

It is believed that the suspects were conduits of human trafficking.

The police boss said, “We are investigating to see if we can get to the person behind the suspects’ being in the country. We suspect it’s a conduit of human trafficking.”