Two police officers were arrested on Sunday evening in Turkana South Sub-County after they were caught smuggling 13 foreigners into the country.
According to a police statement, a security dragnet comprising general police officers and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers was formed after an intel report that a police vehicle was being used to ferry aliens.
The two police officers were ambushed as they drove from Lokori towards Lokichar.
“A team comprising of regular police from Lokichar Police Station and DCI Turkana South laid ambush and later intercepted the suspected vehicle near Town Chini area in Lokichar,” the police statement read in part.
According to the police statement, the two police officers were using a Toyota Landcruiser assigned to the Border Police Unit (BPU) in Todonyang.
“13 aliens of different nationalities were found seated inside,” the Police revealed what they found after the multi-agency coordinated ambush.
4 of the foreigners were Eritreans, one Sudanese aged 22 years old and the rest were of Ethiopian descent.
Together with the two police officers, they were all arrested and detained at Lokichar Police Station awaiting arraignment in court.
The driver of the police land cruiser also surrendered his work-issued AK-47 rifle and three loaded magazines.
It was not immediately clear the final destination of the 13 foreigners who were being smuggled into the country.
The arrest came barely two weeks after South Africa sounded alarm over an increasing number of people being smuggled into the country.
This was after a human trafficking ring targeting Kenyans, Ethiopians, and Zambian nationals was exposed by South African authorities.
Upon conviction, human trafficking carries a prison term of between five years to life in prison.
