Key facts
- Ethiopian police arrested 17 suspects, including alleged ringleader Mohammed Tahir, aka "Wordi".
- The network is accused of causing the deaths of 60 migrants and sexually abusing many women.
- The group allegedly extorted over 1 billion Ethiopian birr ($6.1m) from victims.
- The ring is accused of transporting over 40,000 Ethiopians to Saudi Arabia.
- Detention warehouses were allegedly operated in Yemen, a country devastated by civil war.
Ethiopian Federal Police announced the arrest of 17 individuals, including the suspected leader Mohammed Tahir, also known as "Wordi", in connection with an international human trafficking network. The group is accused of facilitating the deaths of 60 migrants, sexually abusing numerous women, and torturing Ethiopian migrants in Yemen, allegedly extorting over 1 billion Ethiopian birr (approximately $6.1 million) from victims and their families.
The alleged traffickers are accused of transporting more than 40,000 Ethiopians to Saudi Arabia, utilizing routes through Djibouti and Yemen. Human Rights Watch describes Yemen as a nation with scant rule of law, suffering from one of the world's worst humanitarian crises due to its devastating civil war. It is within this context that the ring allegedly operated detention warehouses and filmed migrants being tortured to extort money from relatives.
Police spokesperson Jeylan Abdi stated that the arrests were made in Addis Ababa and the eastern city of Harar during a 15-day operation. The Ethiopian government has recently increased its efforts to combat human trafficking. Investigators have submitted the case file to the justice ministry, supported by witness statements from Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia, along with documentary evidence.