General view of the OR Tambo International Airport, 19 November 2025, in Johannesburg. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen The Border Management Authority (BMA) has disrupted a suspected human trafficking operation and intercepted fourteen Ethiopians and sixteen Bangladeshis at OR Tambo International Airport in two separate incidents. In the first incident, on Thursday, 11 December, fourteen Ethiopian nationals, comprising five men and nine women, were intercepted upon arrival at OR Tambo International Airport.
BMA spokesperson Mmemme Mogotsi said they were all travelling on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. Their interception followed the BMA’s analysis of passenger details, which flagged their movement pattern as suspicious. “Preliminary investigations revealed a modus operandi commonly used in human trafficking syndicates, where individuals attempt to transit through South Africa en route to neighbouring countries and later re-enter South Africa.
As a result of these findings, all fourteen individuals were intercepted,” Mogotsi said. In a separate incident, 16 Bangladeshi men were intercepted after BMA officials discovered they were in possession of fraudulent visas. Mogotsi said the group arrived on another Ethiopian Airlines flight and were identified after officers noticed them blending suspiciously among South African travellers in the maze area.
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“Through profiling, the individuals were separated from the queue and referred to the BMA Border Law Enforcement Office for secondary investigation. “Their documentation was confirmed to be fraudulent and their intentions inconsistent with legitimate travel, raising concerns of possible human trafficking activity,” Mogotsi said. Mogotsi said these interventions form part of the authority’s intensified efforts to combat human trafficking, irregular migration and transnational organised crime, particularly during the festive season peak.
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