Ring tightens around foreign national in human trafficking crackdown in Cape Town
A 38-year-old foreign national, appeared in court for trafficking in persons and immigration violations after a police operation led to the rescue of three potential victims in Cape Town.
Image: File
As authorities intensify their efforts to combat trafficking in the Western Cape, Uchenna Chigioke, a 38-year-old foreign national, appeared in court for the first time following his arrest for trafficking in persons and violating the Immigration Act.
Chigioke's hearing took place at the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, where the case was postponed to June 3 for a bail application.
This follows the rescue of three possible victims between the ages of 21 and 26.
Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said Chigioke was arrested by a multi-disciplinary team consisting of the Hawks Economic Protected Resources team (EPR), Law Enforcement SSIMS Unit, metro police, metro police K9 Unit, as well as the Department of Home Affairs when they swooped on a house in Brooklyn, Milnerton.
The arrest was made during the operation on Monday, June 25.
“The matter has been postponed for bail information and an interpreter. The accused is in custody,” said Hani.
On Monday, Hani said: “The arrest emanates from a follow-up investigation that discovered a possible trafficker who was trafficking young women for sexual exploitation.
“The possible trafficker was immediately arrested, and through further investigation, it was established that he is illegally in the country.”
In December, in an unrelated incident in Milnerton, a house was identified as being linked to human trafficking following a search that led to the discovery of a victim and the alleged 23-year-old trafficker, who was also found to be in the country illegally.
Similarly, in another unrelated trafficking breakthrough incident in February, the Western Cape Economic Protected Resources team arrested two alleged human traffickers, allegedly linked to a disturbing case involving the exploitation of four victims who were misled with promises of legitimate employment opportunities in Thailand.