LUSAKA, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Zambian security agencies said on Friday that they arrested 33 illegal immigrants suspected to be Ethiopians in the capital Lusaka.
Police Deputy Spokesperson Danny Mwale said the illegal immigrants were arrested in the early hours of Friday after three minibuses bypassed a security checkpoint at high speed without stopping.
He said the police pursued the minibuses and intercepted one, where they apprehended 13 immigrants out of 20 who were in the minibus, while the other seven escaped.
The spokesperson said in a statement that a search in one of the shanty compounds in the city led to the arrest of two more immigrants, while a further search led to the arrest of 18 others.
According to him, initial investigations indicate that the immigrants entered Zambia through the Malawian border.
Zambia has, in recent months, seen an increase in illegal immigrants who were using the country as an entry point to other countries in the southern African region.
Last month, 27 dead bodies of suspected Ethiopian illegal immigrants were dumped on the outskirts of Lusaka after suffocating to death in a truck they were being transported in. ■