Police handcuffs

Police in Juba have arrested eight criminal suspects, including three women accused of trafficking a child and selling her for 3.5 million South Sudanese pounds.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) executed the arrests following tip-offs during an intensified crackdown on criminal activity across the capital.

Investigators report that the child was taken from the Jebel residential area. The main suspect allegedly collaborated with two women at Konjo-Konjo Market to move the child before selling her to a buyer in Gumbo for 3.5 million South Sudanese pounds. Police have not released the child’s age.

Speaking on SSBC on Friday, Central Equatoria State Police Commissioner and Assistant Inspector General, Lt. Gen. Martin Andrea Hassan, commended the CID operatives for the operation.

“The suspect, in coordination with two women in the Konjo-Konjo market, brought this child and sold her to another woman for three million five hundred thousand South Sudanese pounds,” Lt. Gen. Hassan said. “An investigation is currently underway to uncover the motives behind the crime.”

Lt. Gen. Hassan urged parents and guardians to monitor the movements and whereabouts of their children closely.

Under Section 269 of South Sudan’s Penal Code Act 2008, a conviction for kidnapping carries a penalty of up to seven years in prison, a fine, or both. Police stated that investigations remain ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the crime.