The Sudd wetland in South Sudan's River Nile. | File/courtesy

The Police have recovered stolen money and arrested armed criminals who detained 20 traders last month, Police Commissioner in Jonglei has said.

The men were held hostage in August while transporting their goods through Machar checkpoint on the bank of the Nile River.

The checkpoint is located between Jonglei and Lakes state.

Major Gen. Joseph Mayen, the Police Commissioner in Jonglei says that the bandits looted nearly 2 million South Sudanese Pounds from the traders.

“We have recovered 1 million and 990,000 South Sudanese Pounds, and we recovered about 1,100 US dollars,” Major Gen. Mayen told state-run television on Thursday.

“We are still continuing with searching, if we get the complete amount we will hand over to their real owners, because we don’t want Jonglei to have a problem with the Unity state.”