Mozambique police have arrested a Chinese man suspected of human trafficking while he was travelling with eight victims he promised jobs in Thailand, a company source said today.
“The arrest was the result of an operation that lasted about a month,” said Hilario Loulé, a spokesman for the National Criminal Investigation Service (Cernic) in Maputo, referring to 11 “nationals who were recruited one after the other by the Chinese national and another who is still at large, with promises of employment.”
A 43-year-old Chinese national was arrested on Saturday as he was travelling in a car with eight people to a hotel where the victims were due to leave on Sunday at Maputo International Airport, heading to Thailand.
According to police, the suspect paid for all expenses related to the trip, including tickets and visas, promising jobs in the construction and hotel sectors to Mozambicans aged between 22 and 32.
“They were all motivated by the promise that they would receive high salaries there,” said Sernik’s spokesman, adding that none of the victims left and that in addition to the eight people in the car, three more had already surrendered.
According to the Mozambique Attorney General’s Office in July 2023, there were at least 38 victims of human trafficking registered in Mozambique who had been transported to South Africa.