One of “the world’s most wanted” human traffickers caught, Interpol says

Cairo — An Eritrean nationwide described as one in every of “the world’s most wanted” human traffickers has been arrested in Sudan after a world manhunt led by the United Arab Emirates, Interpol introduced on Thursday. The suspect — recognized as Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam — is accused of main a prison group that abducts, extorts and murders East African migrants making an attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Libya, the France-based police company mentioned in an internet assertion.
 
He was arrested on Sunday in a ″main worldwide police operation led by the United Arab Emirates, primarily based on info shared through Interpol,″ mentioned a press release from the UAE’s Ministry of Interior, printed by The Khaleej Times.
 
A breakthrough within the manhunt got here after UAE authorities started carefully monitoring Habtemariam’s group and members of his household, uncovering cash laundering patterns that led them to Sudan, the company mentioned. Interpol first started monitoring Habtemariam’s actions in 2019.
 
Habtemariam had been the topic of two Interpol purple notices, one from Ethiopia and the opposite from the Netherlands, the company mentioned. Dutch authorities accused Habtemariam of operating a camp in Libya that housed 1000’s of migrants.
 
Habtemariam was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment after escaping from custody in Ethiopia whereas on trial on individuals smuggling fees in 2020.

Libya has lately emerged because the dominant transit level for migrants in search of a greater high quality of life in Europe. The oil-rich nation plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed rebellion that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Muammar Gadhafi in 2011. Human traffickers have benefited from the chaos in Libya, smuggling migrants in throughout the nation’s prolonged land borders with six nations.
 
According to a tweet posted by the UAE’s inside minister, Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the worldwide operation lasted 9 months and likewise concerned Dutch, Ethiopian and Sudanese authorities, Interpol mentioned.
 
“Thanks to the professionalism and dedication of our law enforcement officials, the world’s most needed human trafficker will not be capable of commit his despicable actions,″ Saeed Abdullah al-Suwaidi, director of the UAE’s Federal Anti-Narcotics General Directorate, mentioned in a separate assertion cited by Interpol.
 
Sudanese police didn’t reply to requests for remark.