Malawian police arrested former President Peter Mutharika’s stepson as part of an investigation into the discovery of an unmarked mass grave in the northern Mzimba district last month.
Malawian authorities said the 30 bodies found were most likely Ethiopian immigrants.
According to police, their investigations led to the arrest of Tadikira Mafubza as well as the impoundment of a vehicle suspected of transporting the deceased men.
A pathologist who is part of the team performing autopsies on the bodies said that preliminary results have been presented to Malawi police and that a full report will be submitted at the end of the month.
Malawi is grappling with the problem of human trafficking in which organised syndicates traffic men, women and children from East African countries including Ethiopia and Somalia. From Malawi they are further trafficked to South Africa, Europe and the United States.
Syndicates are thought to involve influential Malawians.
In 2020, the Malawi High Court sentenced former Home Affairs Minister Uladi Mussa and an immigration officer to five years imprisonment for helping non-Malawians obtain Malawi passports.
Mr Tadikira has not made any public comments, but the former governing Democratic Progressive Party have described the arrest as part of a political witchhunt against Mr Mutharika’s family and his supporters.