9 Ethiopians and 2 Malawian ‘traffickers’ arrested after car packed with illegal migrants stopped at roadblock

• Police intercepted a Honda Freed carrying nine Ethiopian nationals at a roadblock in Chikwawa
• Two Malawian men, Luciano Gomez, 30, and Wilson John, 25, arrested on suspicion of human trafficking
• Ethiopian nationals, aged between 18 and 34, could not produce valid travel documents
• All 11 suspects due in court on charges of illegal entry and trafficking in persons
• Case highlights Malawi’s role as a transit route for smuggling networks moving migrants sout

A car packed with nine Ethiopian nationals was stopped by police at a roadblock in Malawi — sparking the arrest of two Malawian men suspected of trafficking them into the country.

Officers manning the Kamuzu Bridge Roadblock in Chikwawa swooped after intercepting a Honda Freed, registration number LL26T, on 18 July.

The car’s driver was named as Luciano Gomez, 30, of Mbeta Village in Nsanje District.

A search of the vehicle revealed it was crammed with the group of Ethiopian nationals, aged between 18 and 34.

When officers demanded to see valid travel documents, the foreign nationals were unable to produce any — triggering their immediate arrest.

Gomez and a second Malawian man, 25-year-old Wilson John, also of Nsanje District, were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking.

Chikwawa Police Station Public Relations Officer Sergeant Dickson Matemba confirmed the arrests, saying officials from the Department of Immigration in Chikwawa had since been alerted.

All 11 suspects are expected to appear in court, where they face charges relating to illegal entry into Malawi and trafficking in persons.

Malawi a key transit point for smugglers
The arrests are the latest in a string of trafficking cases uncovered along Malawi’s southern border regions, which have increasingly become a transit corridor for smugglers moving migrants — often from the Horn of Africa — southward towards South Africa in search of work.

Ethiopian nationals fleeing poverty, conflict and limited economic opportunity at home frequently pay smuggling networks thousands of dollars to be transported thousands of miles overland, often via Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, before reaching South Africa.

The journeys are notoriously dangerous, with migrants frequently crammed into vehicles for days at a time, given little food or water, and subjected to exploitation or abuse by the smugglers who control their passage.

Malawian authorities have in recent years stepped up patrols at key border crossings and inland roadblocks, such as the one at Kamuzu Bridge, in a bid to disrupt these networks.

Officials say vehicles suspected of ferrying undocumented migrants are frequently intercepted, though campaigners argue that under-resourced border enforcement and porous frontiers continue to make the country an attractive route for traffickers.

Under Malawi’s Trafficking in Persons Act, those convicted of trafficking offences can face lengthy prison sentences, while foreign nationals found to have entered the country illegally typically face deportation once legal proceedings have concluded.

The case in Chikwawa is expected to be among several currently before Malawian courts involving the smuggling of East African migrants through the country.

Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :