Johannesburg - Nineteen illegal immigrants were arrested in Kamagugu, Mpumalanga for contravening the Immigration Act.
On Monday, a Mpumalanga multidisciplinary team followed up on information regarding illegal immigrants in Kamagugu who were kept in a safe house and were migrating from foreign countries into South Africa without proper documentation.
The team, which comprised the Mbombela-based Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team, Crime Intelligence, detectives, and Visible Policing, as well as the Local Criminal Record Centre, followed up on the information that led them to the house at Kamagugu.
"On arrival at the address, the gate was locked, but the team managed to gain entry into the property. They found 19 males packed into a three-bedroom house without furniture," said Hawks spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi.
The Hawks said that a preliminary investigation established that out of the 19 immigrants, 14 were Bangladeshi and five were Pakistani.
"Police recovered 18 passports, 27 cellphones, chargers, and cables, which were packaged together and kept by the caretaker. The suspects who could not communicate in English had passports that were not stamped within South African borders; they also had different dates, some of which were dated in advance," Sekgotodi said.
The 19 suspects, aged 23 to 40, were arrested and charged with contravening the Immigration Act, and the caretaker was charged with harbouring illegal immigrants.
The Department of Home Affairs was summoned, and the services of an interpreter were requested to establish the reasons for immigrants' entering the country without proper documentation.
The provincial police head, Major General Nico Gerber vowed that the team will continue to fight crime with the assistance of community members who persistently provide valuable information.
The Star