The recent arrest of six traffickers involved in the heinous crime of sex exploitation marks a significant victory in the ongoing battles against human trafficking, according to Police spokesperson Fred Enanga.

Addressing Journalists on Monday, Enanga, said, “In commendable display of law enforcement's dedication, authorities were successful in not only apprehending those responsible for the reprehensible acts, but also in rescuing 24 victims, among them foreign nationals.”

He said that this achievement underscores the urgent need to address and eliminate the global scourge of human trafficking while emphasizing the importance of safeguarding the rights and dignity of the victims.

“The apprehension of six individuals connected to a sex trafficking ring sheds light on the deeply disturbing and hidden world of human exploitation. This case highlights the pervasive nature of human trafficking and its ability to transcend borders, as evidenced by the presence of foreign nationals among the victims. Such arrests serve as a stark reminder that human trafficking remains a significant challenge that requires consistent vigilance and comprehensive efforts to combat,” Enanga said.

Accordingly, Enanga said one suspect was arrested in Buwaate in Kira division Kampala, two from Jinja district and six from Pallisa district. 

They are: Christine Apio, a 34-year-old who is being held over trafficking four girls for alleged sexual exploitation. Apio operated a massage parlour in Buwaate in Kira.

Enanga said the victims were trafficked from Mayuge and Buvuma.

He said that these individuals, subjected to unimaginable suffering, have now been afforded an opportunity for rehabilitation and recovery. The international dimension of the victim pool serves as a reminder that human trafficking knows no bounds and requires a coordinated response that transcends national borders.

In Pallisa, Enanga said they arrested Umar Omasio, Haddijah Gimba, Mohammad Wanna, Loy Naigino and Bendo Rashida, who trafficked a one Jospeh Mugambe and later held him hostage in Pallisa district – as demanded ransom from his family.

In Jinja, Police impounded a commuter taxi registration number UBJ 750V which transported 20 trafficked Eritreans to Kampala. They were smuggled through Ethiopia-Kenya- and to Uganda via Mbale district through Kenya. As a result, Police arrested the (commuter) taxi driver a one Ogwang.

Fleeing Eritreans sold at $25,000 to camps

In April the Police’s Intelligence crack unit – flying squad- busted a criminal syndicate responsible for transporting Eritrean migrants at a cost of $25,000 (sh88.4m) per-head into Ugandan refugee camps.

Sources said the smugglers were asking prices ranging between $2500 (sh8.7m) to infinity depending on who they were trafficking.

Operatives attached to the Flying Squad Unit (FSU) arrested four suspects during the Tuesday evening raids as part of the directorate of Crime Intelligence (CI) led operations conducted in Busia targeting an international human trafficking gang. 

CI which is headed by Brig. Gen. Christopher Ddamulira started the operation following intelligence reports from a family that had registered a kidnap case at Kabalagala police station. The captors had demanded a ransom.

The suspects are: Amir Mutembeya, 25, and his father Muhammad Tibesigwa, Richard Senono, and Emmanuel Mwanje allegedly linked to a cartel operating in Kenya, Eritrea among others. 

Sources said other suspects (identities withheld) are still at large as the hunt for them is still ongoing.

The smugglers operated holding cells ‘filled’ with people who are fleeing Eritrea in search of asylum abroad through Uganda refugee camps, according to operatives privy to the probe. They remained tight-lipped on how long the cartel had operated in the busy border town.  

The alleged cooperation between the smugglers, who have since been transferred to Kampala for grilling, office officials at the urban refugee desk and OPM remains a subject of ongoing police investigations.

The raids at the eastern border (Busia) also led to the rescue of three men (identities withheld), aged 25 and 27, who were believed to be victims of trafficking and have been taken to a place for safety, according to FSU operatives at the metropolitan police headquarters in Kampala.

Recently, International Police (Interpol) Kampala announced that they had zeroed down on suspected members of a human trafficking gang responsible for transporting as many as 10,000 migrants from Uganda into Asia, Britain and the US.

The network is believed to have made about $40m (sh140b) from its human trafficking operations, which used porous borders as exit routes for smuggling out Ugandans among others.

Crimes

In 2017, the army’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence arrested several senior police officers over their involvement in the alleged forceful repatriation of refugees to neighboring countries, most of who were killed. The officers (names withheld) have since been released on bail.

The Investigations were extended to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the OPM and Immigration where senior officers were interdicted for several months. 

Several of them were later let off the hook. At the height of the investigations, it emerged several criminals disguised as refugees at the camps to avoid detection.

Influx?

In February last year, Police launched a probe after dozens of the directorate of citizen and Immigration control servers, including systems in Kampala, as well as border post offices, were compromised and some administrator accounts breached.

Preliminary Police findings indicated that the fraudsters, believed to be staff of immigration, created user accounts, which they used to create more than 300 different immigration documents which they sold at a fee. Several immigration officers were arrested during the probe.

The Special Investigations Division (SID) — an offshoot of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) — who were at the helm of the probe revealed that: the beneficiaries of these documents would not pass through the immigration process, but would get in touch with the suspects to issue them with necessary documents in exchange for cash ranging from $50-100 (sh183,365 and sh366,730).

Although the extent of financial loss is yet to be established, preliminary findings indicate the loss could be in hundreds of millions or billions.

Police and sister security agencies have remained on high alert over an influx of Syrians, Somalis, Indians and Chinese. At the time a select-team of security operatives were designated to receive, process and approve mostly documents for Somali nationals.