Libya’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has freed 263 irregular migrants from African countries who were held in inhumane conditions by a human trafficking gang.
Walid Al-Arfi, the CID’s media office head, told Al-Wasat on Wednesday that the department’s Oasis branch had received intelligence about a warehouse where migrants were being detained in a guesthouse on Palm Project Street.
Following surveillance and investigations, CID officers raided the location, arresting two traffickers and rescuing 263 migrants, all in critical health conditions due to torture and abuse.
According to Al-Arfi, the migrants—originating from Eritrea, Somalia, and Ethiopia—had been kidnapped at different times and held in captivity for months. Some had been imprisoned for up to eight months, and among them were women who had been subjected to continuous sexual assault. One migrant reportedly died from malnutrition before the rescue.
Twenty-five severely ill migrants were transferred to the hospital for urgent medical care, while authorities launched an investigation into the arrested traffickers. One of the suspects was identified as the owner of the guesthouse-turned-detention facility. The CID is now pursuing other gang members.
The traffickers were allegedly demanding $17,000 for the release of each Somali migrant and $10,000 for Eritrean detainees.
The two arrested suspects were referred to Jalu Primary Prosecution, which ordered their detention. Authorities confirmed they were part of a criminal network involved in transnational human trafficking, illegal detention, and inhumane treatment of victims to extort ransoms from their families.
