Ethiopian police arrest alleged leader of multi-million-dollar trafficking ring

Police in Ethiopia say they have arrested 17 suspects including the alleged leader of what they say is a multi-million-dollar international human trafficking network.

The gang is accused of "the deaths of 60 migrants", sexually abusing many women, and torturing Ethiopian migrants in Yemen - allegedly collecting more than 1bn Ethiopian birr ($6.1m; £4.6m) from victims in the process.

Suspected ringleader Mohammed Tahir, aka "Wordi", and his co-accused have yet to appear in court or comment on the allegations.

Their photos were released by police on Tuesday, and posted to the force's Facebook page.

The alleged traffickers are accused of transporting more than 40,000 Ethiopians to Saudi Arabia, through Djibouti and Yemen.

The ring is alleged to have operated detention warehouses in Yemen, a nation with scant rule of law after being devastated by civil war. It remains one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, according to Human Rights Watch.

It is here that they allegedly filmed migrants while torturing them as a way to extort money from their terrified relatives back home.

Police spokesperson Jeylan Abdi told BBC News Amharic that the suspects were arrested in the capital, Addis Ababa, and the eastern city of Harar, in a "15-day operation".

Ethiopian Federal Police and justice ministry have declined BBC requests for further details about the operation, including any information of how the 17 suspects have pleaded.

Following their arrests, investigators submitted the case file to the justice ministry, supported by witness statements gathered in Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia, plus documents, according to police.

The Ethiopian government has recently intensified its efforts to crack down on human traffickers.

In April, police arrested another ring accused of luring thousands of people to Libya, where they had hoped to travel on to Europe. The police spokesperson told the BBC that case was now the courts.

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