Four alleged traffickers between the ages of 19 and 40 were arrested in Sunnyside, Pretoria by the a multi-disciplinary team that included the Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation teams, both in Gauteng province and Head Office, assisted by the Tshwane K9 unit.
The joint team responded to information received from the Human Trafficking Hotline about a 17 year-old minor victim who reportedly left home in March 2021. She was allegedly recruited from Hamanskraal by one of the suspects, kept against her will, forced into a life of drugs and subjected to acts of sexual exploitation.
A search and rescue operation was conducted on Friday, 31 December 2021 at the apartment in Sunnyside following an in-depth investigation.
The child minor was successfully rescued along with another 25 year-old victim and were taken to a place of safety.
Two of the four suspects arrested are fugitives who had been on the run since September 2019.
They were allegedly linked to another case of Human traffic where nine suspects were arrested and their case is now at the Pretoria High court.
The Hawks Provincial Head in Gauteng, Major General Ebrahim Kadwa applauded the joint team for the arrests and reiterated the significance of forging a multi-disciplinary approach in the fight against crime.
“I urge the victims suffering in isolation and the members of the community that may witness this injustice, to use the available emergency numbers in their quest for intervention”.
All four suspects are expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrates Court on Monday, 3 January 2022. They will be facing charges of contravening the Trafficking in Persons Act 7 of 2013 for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
