Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested a Kenyan national, studying in India, over his alleged involvement in a human trafficking ring in Goa that exploited young African women.
The ED arrested Newton Muthuri Kimani based on a complaint filed in Goa against two Nigerian individuals, identified as Isralite alias Dorcast Maria and Olokpa.
These individuals allegedly lured girls from Africa to Goa with promises of employment in the hospitality sector, only to force them into prostitution upon their arrival.
Newton Muthuri Kimani was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on December 9. He had come to India on a student visa, the central agency said in a statement.
A special PMLA court in Panaji sent him to ED custody till December 15, it said. The money laundering case stems from a Goa Police (Anjuna police station) FIR against two Nigerian nationals, Isralite alias Dorcast Maria and Olokpa, for their involvement in human trafficking.
This money generated through illegal means was being transferred to Kenya and other countries through the Mpesa app and some foreign bank accounts with the help of some suspected hawala operators,” the ED said.
The agency also conducted searches in this case sometime back in the Anjuna area and “rescued” two Kenyan nationals.
Follow-up searches were conducted in Punjab and Gujarat from where “incriminating” documents and digital devices were seized, the ED said.
