Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) would like to congratulate law enforcement agencies for the arrest of a German man at OR Tambo International Airport, in Johannesburg, for attempting to traffic two women to Croatia recently.
The man, 56-year-old Joachim Will, appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court yesterday (Friday) on charges of trafficking in persons and fraud. He was remanded in custody until a formal bail application
He was arrested by a joint police team led by the West Rand Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation, working with Interpol, Crime Intelligence and Gauteng’s Provincial Border Policing. He was intercepted while trying to board a flight to Croatia with the two Madagascan women, aged 32 and 29.
The women were allegedly recruited through a dating site and lured with a promise of employment. They were found in possession of fraudulent Italian passports.
“ACSA would like to congratulate the various law enforcement agencies involved in making the arrests. The apprehension was made possible because of the increased cooperation between law enforcement agencies and the security team at ACSA,” says Mzwandile Petros, Group Executive of Enterprise Security at ACSA.
ACSA would like to issue a warning to all would-be traffickers that South Africa is not open to their illicit business practices and any attempt to break the law will result in arrest.
“ACSA takes a zero-tolerance approach to any criminal activity at its airports. Human traffickers will be arrested and will face the full might of the law,” says Petros, adding that OR Tambo International Airport is a national key point, meaning that security will always be on high alert.
