Police smash suspected human trafficking syndicate in Kiambu

Police have rescued 25 women suspected to be victims of human trafficking in Gwa Kairu in Kiambu County.

In a raid that caught the suspects by surprise, the officers drawn from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit descended on the homestead and busted the trafficking ring.

Three suspects were arrested in the police operation.

SUSPECTS

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) named the suspects as Mercy Kaaia, Ms Lydia Nyambura and Ms Susan Nyambura Nganga.

According to the DCI, the 25 victims from Burundi were being held hostage at the compound in readiness for transit to Asian countries.

They were aged between 24 and 33 years.

Police said the suspects will be arraigned soon.

In a bid to stem the human trafficking vice, Kenya passed the Counter-Trafficking in Persons Act in 2010.

UPHILL TASK

But arresting traffickers is an uphill task since they operate in secrecy and use third parties as well as secure, concealed residences to commit their crimes.

Among the challenges Kenya faces in eliminating human trafficking are porous borders, poor handling of cases in court, lack of awareness of what constitutes human trafficking and poorly funded State agencies tasked with dealing with it.

A US State Department report published in 2018 said that Kenya does not meet the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking.

The report named the country as a source, destination and transit for the trafficking of people.

Victims are mainly vulnerable children and young adults. They are usually subjected to forced labour and sexual exploitation.

The United Nations recently said 71 percent of victims globally are women and girls.

Three out of four of these victims, or 75 percent, are sexually exploited.