- Police said they did not have immigration documents and that they will be produced in court ahead of planned repatriation to Ethiopia.
- In Malaika area, Kakamega, two other Ethiopians were arrested while being ferried on a motorcycle.
At least 13 Ethiopians were arrested at two separate border points while headed for Tanzania.
The first group of seven was arrested in Maktau, Taita Taveta as they waited to be assisted to cross to Tanzania. They told police they were headed for South Africa for greener jobs.
The group was aged between 15 and 25 years, police said.
They were detained ahead of arraignment and possible repatriation to their country.
Elsewhere, six Ethiopian nationals were over the weekend also arrested in Kehancha, Migori County while headed for Tanzania.
The group of men was abandoned in Kiomakebe area by an agent who was ferrying them through the Kenya-Tanzania border in Isibania.
They said they were headed for South Africa and had originated Moyale border and drove through Nairobi, Narok, Kisii, and to Migori before being detained on October 13.
Police said they did not have immigration documents and that they would be produced in court ahead of planned repatriation to Ethiopia.
In Malaika area, Kakamega, two other Ethiopians were arrested while being ferried on a motorcycle.
The two were arrested after locals alerted police they were being ferried towards Sigalagala direction.
Police say there is a surge in such cases of Ethiopians being trafficked.
According to police, most of the aliens use the Moyale route and try their luck as they head to South Africa and the Middle East oblivious of the dangers ahead.
Tens of the aliens are usually arrested in various places in the country as they wait to be moved to their next destinations.
Police and immigration officials have decried increased cases of Ethiopian aliens nabbed in the country while in transit.
Officials from the Transnational Organized Crime are conducting joint operations to deal with the issue of human smuggling.
Tens of Ethiopians are annually arrested in Kenya while in transit and later deported.
Most of those arrested come to Kenya to seek jobs or are in transit.
What is puzzling is how the immigrants manage to evade many police roadblocks mounted from the Moyale border that they use to Nairobi.
There are more than 20 roadblocks on the stretch, which raises the seriousness of the security agents taming the practice.
As part of efforts to deal with the menace, an Ethiopian national was sentenced to 31 years in prison for trafficking 12 fellow Ethiopians immigrants in Nairobi.
Yibekal Gatachew alias Adinan Mohamed Galano was sentenced by a Kahawa West Law Court on September 7, 2023, following his arrest on November 3, 2021, in Ngumo estate, Nairobi.
During the arrest, 12 Ethiopian nationals were found emaciated and chained in a room as they waited to be repatriated to a different country while headed for South Africa.
Gatachew was also sentenced to an additional year for acquiring a fake document.
This was after he was found with a fake alien identity card.
The immigrants were later repatriated to Ethiopia.