Zimbabwe soldier caught trafficking 20 illegal Ethiopian immigrants

Trooper arrested transporting underage East African border jumpers

Fungayi Moyana

Love for a ‘quick buck’  got  a soldier from Mutoko at the deep end as he was caught ‘globe trotting’  transporting twenty sorry looking Ethiopians .

The accused was arrested at Matsai village in Gutu recently after the breakdown of a Toyota kombi he was using.

The alleged human trafficker Newman Nyathi a soldier at 4.2 Brigade was caught off guard by police as he was coming from the Beitbridge border post.

Police on patrol discovered twenty non English speaking Ethiopian nationals aged between twelve to eighteen years.

They had no travel documents that allowed them to be in Zimbabwe.

Police immediately arrested Nyathi and three other drivers including one Ethiopian and 2 Zimbabweans.

Appearing before Gutu Magistrate Edwin Marecha the illegal Ethiopian immigrants faced charges of unlawful entry and remaining in Zimbabwe without a permit as defined in section 29(2a) of immigration chapter 04:02 and remained in custody.

Nyathi did not plead guilty and paid a bail of two hundred dollars while the other drivers were taken into cells awaiting to be sentenced.

The Ethiopian immigrants were remanded to April 7 while remaining in custody.