Trial of 7 Suspects Behind Human Smuggling Ring Opens in Mogadishu

GOOBJOOG NEWS|MOGADISHU: The trial of seven men accused of being behind a human trafficking ring that saw 28 Somalis drown in the Indian Ocean last year opened in Mogadishu today.

The seven men appeared before the Banaadir Regional Court in Mogadishu for mention of the cases against them in what has attracted wide public attention just five months after the tragic Indian ocean deaths.

The suspects were arrested in various neighbourhoods in the capital Mogadishu after security agencies received information from a website that the suspects reportedly used. They are accused of orchestrating the smuggling of Somalis who are then delivered to gangs in Kenya, Madagascar, and the island of Mayotte, the French island off the northwest coast of Madagascar.

In November 2024, at least 28 Somalis, among them a two-year-old boy, died after they were abandoned by their smugglers in a boat carrying 75 migrants as they neared Mayotte.