- An extended search was conducted at the adjacent plot after two men were seen jumping and it was established the two were police officers, police said.
- Both were injured on the ankle in their futile attempts to escape and grounded.
Image: FILE
Four police officers were Tuesday arrested and 37 Ethiopians rescued after they were found in a house in Mwihoko, Kiambu county.
This is about a case of human smuggling and trafficking involving the rescued Ethiopians, police said.
Police were quick to say the incident was isolated and the officers found guilty will face the law.
It indicates some of the smuggling incidents being reported are abetted by the police who are supposed to fight them.
According to police, three of the officers are from Pangani police station and are said to have been operating outside their jurisdiction without the knowledge of their commanders.
The sting operation, conducted by detectives from the DCI’s Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU), caught the officers unaware as two of them attempted to escape in vain.
An extended search was conducted at the adjacent plot after two men were seen jumping and it was established the two were police officers, police said.
Both were injured on the ankle in their futile attempts to escape and grounded.
It was then established that the two were from the Githurai police station and another from the Starehe (Pangani) patrol.
Both were armed with Beretta and Ceska pistols, respectively. The weapons were confiscated from them.
While the detectives were still at the scene, two other officers from Starehe also arrived at the scene while accompanied by two other foreigners in a vehicle.
Both officers were armed with Ceska pistols and had arrested two other aliens who had been handcuffed, police said.
They were both detained. The owner of the house was yet to be traced, police said.
The vehicle found at the scene and the other belonging to one of the officers were towed to Mwihoko police station as investigations continue.
The four officers were escorted to the DCI headquarters for further interrogation.
The incident comes amid police operations on suspected smuggling incidents.
This is the latest such incident to happen in the country.
The group said they were running from problems in their country and headed to South Africa, seeking greener pastures.
Police said most of the aliens use the Moyale route as they head to South Africa and the Middle East, oblivious of the dangers ahead.
Tens of aliens are often arrested in various places in the country as they wait to be moved to their next destinations.
Police and immigration officials have deplored increased cases of Ethiopian aliens nabbed in the country while in transit.
Officials from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit are conducting joint operations to deal with human smuggling.
Tens of Ethiopians and now Eritreans are annually arrested in Kenya while in transit and later deported.
Police say a new trend shows those from South Sudan are also coming in large numbers amid operations. 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, which they use to Nairobi.