Gauteng police and a private security company have rescued 10 half-naked teenagers who are foreign nationals and were seen walking in Mulbarton in the south of Johannesburg wearing only their underwear. The teenagers are suspected to have been trafficking victims and their rescue resulted in the arrest of a 47-year-old man. Gauteng Hawks spokesperson Col Katlego Mogale said the teenagers are between the ages of 14 and 19 and are currently in a place of safety.
She said they were rescued when a Johannesburg metro police officer who was busy patrolling was “alerted to a bizarre scenario unfolding alongside Broad street” involving a group of eight half-naked teenagers walking nearby. She said it was found that the teenage boys were foreign nationals and could not speak English. “Officers were also informed that there were two more boys who had already been taken away in a blue VW Jetta.
“The vehicle was later intercepted along the street, but the driver fled, resulting in a high-speed chase which ended in Commissioner Street with the subsequent arrest of the suspect and the rescue of the two half-naked teenagers,” said Mogale. The suspect is expected to appear in the Booysens magistrate’s court on Thursday on charges of being an illegal immigrant and suspected trafficking in persons.
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