Johannesburg – A coordinated multi-agency operation has led to the rescue of 10 teenage boys and the arrest of a 47-year-old suspected human trafficker in Mulbarton, Johannesburg.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), known as the Hawks, confirmed that the arrest followed a tip-off received by Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officers, who were alerted to a group of eight half-naked teenage boys walking along The Broads in Mulbarton on Tuesday.
Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said officers questioned the boys and established that they were foreign nationals who could not speak English.
Police were further informed that two other boys had already been taken away in a blue Volkswagen Jetta.
A joint operation involving the Hawks, JMPD, the South African Police Service (SAPS) Mondeor, the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit, and private security company Fox was launched to trace the vehicle.
“The vehicle was later intercepted along the street, but the driver fled, resulting in a high-speed chase which ended in Commissioner Street with the subsequent arrest of the suspect and the rescue of the two half-naked teenagers,” Mogale said.
The chase ended on Commissioner Street in the Johannesburg CBD, where the suspect was arrested and the two remaining teenagers were rescued.
The 47-year-old foreign national is expected to appear in the Booysens Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 8 January 2025, facing charges of being an illegal immigrant and suspected trafficking in persons. The identities of the teenage boys have not yet been confirmed.
Mogale said further investigations are under way, adding that Gauteng Hawks provincial head Major General Ebrahim Kadwa commended the multidisciplinary effort in combating human trafficking in the province.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
