IMMIGRATION INTERCEPTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN AMBULANCE OPERATION

IMMIGRATION INTERCEPTS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN AMBULANCE OPERATION.

The Department of Immigration yesterday intercepted illegal immigrants who were being smuggled into the country using an ambulance, exposing a wider migrant smuggling network.

More than 90 Ethiopian nationals were detained for various immigration-related offences after being found in an ambulance and several private vehicles during coordinated operations in Nyimba, Siavonga and Mpika districts. The operation followed suspicious activity at a checkpoint where an ambulance, with sirens fully engaged, attempted to pass through without inspection, prompting officers to stop and search the vehicle.

The Ethiopian nationals were later handed over to the Nyimba Immigration Office by police officers who intercepted a Lusaka bound ambulance belonging to Altaf Memorial Hospital at Kacholola Checkpoint, following a tip-off from the Nyimba Immigration Office. Investigations into the suspected migrant smuggling network are ongoing.