IRIN News - NAIROBI, 13 Sep. (IRIN) - Authorities in Somalia's self-declared autonomous region of Puntland are cracking down on migrants waiting to be smuggled into Yemen and the Gulf States, Puntland's deputy police chief said on Wednesday.

"We have set up a special unit of 45 men to deal with this problem and hunt down the traffickers," said Col. Abduiaziz Sa'id Ga'amey, who is leading the operation. "We want to go after the ones who arrange the deals, collect the money and direct the traffic."

He said at least 100 migrants, "who were trying to board boats" to Yemen, had been detained in the coastal villages of Marer, 10 km south of the towns of Bosaso and Qaw to the west. Those arrested included Ethiopian nationals, "mostly Oromos, with the rest from southern Somalia".

Ga'amey said it was Puntland government policy to eradicate the smuggling of people. The police were looking for suspected traffickers in Bosaso, the centre of the smuggling ring, he added.

The crackdown is timed for the beginning of the sailing season [September to March] when boats carrying would-be refugees leave Somalia for Yemen.

"They have already started; on Monday night three boats heading for Yemen left the Puntland shores with more than 100 people," said Muhammad Sa'id Kashawiito of Midnimo radio, based in Bosaso, the commercial capital of the region. He said an estimated 5,000 migrants were in Bosaso, "and many more seem to be coming every day".

Kashawiito told IRIN the traffickers made most of the arrangements, such as collecting the fee and making deals