Nairobi — Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives have rescued 60 victims of human trafficking, who were being held at an apartment in Nairobi's Tassia estate.

According to the DCI the victims in question were allegedly slated to be sold as human slaves overseas by their alleged traffickers.

"Acting on intelligence leads, sleuths based at DCI's Transnational & Organized Crime Unit, augmented by Embakasi-based officers while on a scrupulous crackdown on illegal immigrants, traced the victims to a residential apartment within Tassia in Embakasi, Nairobi County," said the DCI.

The agency said its detectives found the victims bundled up in one room when they gained entry into the apartment.

The DCI stated that the victims aged between 14 to 50 were being trafficked from two countries neighboring Kenya to the North against their will.

"Upon further inquiries, it was established that the 60 victims had been ferried to the location temporarily, as the traffickers sought alternative ways of transporting them outside the country undetected,' the agency said.

The George-Kinoti led agency noted that three suspects were arrested during the operation on suspicion of being part of a larger human trafficking syndicate operating across the Horn of Africa.

The agency identified the suspects as Mohammed Omar Aden, 29, Halima Mohammed Osman, 43, and 23-year-old Sala Yusuf.

"The victims and the suspects are currently being held at different police stations in Nairobi pending legal procedures," said the DCI.