AFP
Friday, March 16, 2012
Libyan security forces said on Thursday they had dismantled a human
trafficking network smuggling illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and
Somalia.Hussein al-Sahli, who headed the investigation, said five
members of the network were arrested at a farm on the outskirts of the
eastern city of Benghazi, where 52 people were being held captive.
"The
network was bringing illegal immigrants across the Egyptian-Libyan
border with the help of Libyan drivers and the owner of the farm," he
said.
The gang lured its victims with promises of safe passage and
employment opportunities in the North African nation only to kidnap
them in the hope of obtaining ransom payments from their relatives, he
added.
The ring leader, a Bangladeshi, confessed to bringing more
than 200 illegal immigrants from his country in the past three months.
Sahli said the Libyan farmer would pay the smugglers to use the Somalis as slaves.
For
years, Libya has been a destination and a transit country to European
shores for hundreds of thousands of African immigrants.