Ethiopian police arrested a “dangerous international human trafficker” and nine accomplices accused of smuggling over 3,000 people.
Victims, lured from Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, and Somalia, were held hostage in Libya under brutal conditions.
The traffickers operated five warehouses in Libya, forcing families to pay huge ransoms while keeping captives in chains and hunger.
Those unable to pay endured one meagre meal daily, beatings, whipping with rubber or electric cables, and severe physical abuse.
Some victims were burned with plastic bottles, women were raped, and many tragically died during the torture, police reported.
Police said the network illegally trafficked more than 3,000 people, killed over 100, and raped more than 50 women.
Mugshots of seven men and three women arrested in connection with the network were published on police social media.
The investigation, launched in 2018, included interviews with over 100 victims and their families, supported by Project ROCK and Interpol.
Authorities uncovered that the network moved around $20 million through its operations, highlighting the scale of international criminal activity.
The probe also revealed more than 70 major human traffickers operating in Ethiopia and abroad, signaling continued threats to migrants.
Police described the arrests as a major victory against a cruel trafficking ring, promising further action to dismantle organized crime.