Authorities in South Africa have apprehended a German man at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg for allegedly attempting to traffic two women to Croatia, the Airports Company SA said at the weekend.
He was arrested by a joint police team led by the West Rand Hawks‘ serious organised crime investigation unit, working with Interpol, Crime Intelligence, and Gauteng’s provincial border policing unit.
The man was charged to the Kempton Park magistrate’s court on Friday for fraud and trafficking in people. The 56-year-old was remanded pending a bail application
ACSA said he was intercepted while trying to board a flight to Croatia with two Madagascan ladies, aged 29 and 32, found in possession of fraudulent Italian passports.
They were allegedly enlisted through a dating site and lured with a promise of employment.
“ACSA would like to congratulate the various law enforcement agencies involved in making the arrests. The apprehension was made possible because of the increased co-operation between law enforcement agencies and the security team at ACSA,” the company’s group executive of enterprise security, Mzwandile Petros, said.
“ACSA takes a zero-tolerance approach to any criminal activity at its airports. Human traffickers will be arrested and will face the full might of the law.”
