At least 15 Ethiopians and their suspected smuggler were arrested from a residential house in Lucky Summer area, Nairobi as they waited to be moved out of the country.
The group had been camping at the house while waiting for their suspected smuggler to ship them out to South Africa through the Kenya-Tanzania border.
The arrests were made on August 12 evening in an operation mounted by police in the area.
Police said the group was expected to be arraigned before plans are made to repatriate them to their country.
This is the latest such arrest to be made on Ethiopians. Most of those nabbed are usually headed for the Middle East or South Africa for greener life.
Police say more than 100 Ethiopians are being held at various stations pending their repatriation.
Tens of Ethiopians are smuggled in a worrying trend, officials say.
According to police, most of the aliens from Ethiopia use the Moyale route and try their luck as they head to South Africa and Middle East oblivious of the dangers ahead.
Tens of the aliens are usually arrested in various places in the country as they wait to be moved to their next destinations.
Officials from the Transnational Organized Crime are conducting joint operations to deal with the issue of human smuggling.
Most of those arrested come to Kenya to seek jobs or are on transit.
What is puzzling is how the immigrants manage to evade many police roadblocks mounted from the Moyale border where they use to Nairobi because they travel in groups.
There are more than 20 roadblocks on the stretch, which raises the seriousness of the security agents taming the practice.
As part of efforts to deal with the menace, an Ethiopian national was sentenced to 31 years in prison for trafficking 12 fellow Ethiopian immigrants in Nairobi.
Yibekal Gatachew alias Adinan Mohamed Galano was sentenced by a Kahawa West Law Court on September 7, 2023 following his arrest on November 3, 2021 in Ngumo estate, Nairobi.
Most of those nabbed are usually repatriated to their country, police and immigration officials say.
