Tanzania's immigration department on Monday confirmed the arrest of another batch of 96 Ethiopian nationals, who were found hiding deep in villages of Longido district, in northern part of the east African country.

According to immigration officers, the Ethiopians were arrested on Sunday morning when they were found in a lorry in an area located between Ngeriani and Tingatinga villages in the district, which is close to the border between Tanzania and Kenya, waiting to cross Tanzania to one of the southern African countries.

Arusha Regional Immigration Officer Daniel Namomba said the Ethiopians were expected to be taken to court on Monday after long interrogations with immigration officers at Namanga Immigration border post.

He said four Tanzanians, who facilitated the "dirty game," were also arrested and taken to court to face charges leveled against them.

This occurred few days after 13 Ethiopians, en-route to South Africa, were arrested in Arusha while hiding in a house owned by a taxi driver.

Namomba explained the arrest of the aliens has been possible through collaboration with local Samaritans, immigration officers and wildlife rangers in the area.

He said the problem is getting more complicated as stowaways use illegal routes popularly known as "panya route" to get into Tanzania.

"These people were on transit to one of the southern African countries on the way to European countries and the United States," he said.

The immigrants were found in a lorry with registration numbers T264 APV, owned by someone identified as Said Augustino Mrembe, a Kilimanjaro-based resident, he said, adding all of them were in good conditions.

The recent Southern African Development Community (SADC) report showed Tanzania is a gate way for illegal immigrants wishing to go to southern African countries especially South Africa.