NAIROBI, Kenya

Kenyan authorities on Monday said that a Dutch national of Eritrean descent wanted for human trafficking with Interpol red notice had been deported to the Netherlands.

John Habeta, 53, had been on the run for four years and was believed to be running an underground international human smuggling network for the trafficking of people from Africa to Europe, according to a statement by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Kenya.

He was arrested in Nairobi following a covert operation by DCI detectives.

“He is linked to at least four different operations where groups of Eritrean nationals were smuggled into Europe through Asia. Immediately after his arrest, he was extradited to the Netherlands on orders from the Ministry of Interior,” the statement read.

Authorities in Kenya warned criminals that the East African country is not “a haven for international fugitives.”

According to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), the human trafficking in East Africa has been a reported problem.

“The demand for trafficked labour has been documented in Eastern Africa in agriculture, mining services, domestic work, and prostitution. People have also reportedly been trafficked for military service, forced marriage, and ritual purposes," the IOM said.