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People-smuggler caught bringing Iraqis into Switzerland

car
The Iraqis were brought into the country by car Keystone

During a major operation, police in the central Swiss canton of Schwyz arrested a suspected people-smuggler. 

According to Swiss public broadcaster SRF, the 48-year-old Italian was travelling with four Iraqis and now faces trial for facilitating the illegal entry of migrants. The Iraqi citizens the man smuggled in his car are between 20 and 45 years old, according police. The suspected smuggler was wanted in several cantons. The four Iraqis he smuggled applied for asylum. They are charged with intentional and unlawful entry into the country. 

In recent years, Switzerland is reporting higher numbers of smugglers believed to be ferrying migrants through the country to points north, according to the Federal Customs Office. 

Between January and August 2017, border guards arrested 271 people on suspicion of smuggling, compared to 197 over the same period a year before, according to numbers obtained by the Swiss news agency SDA. Most of those arrested came from Switzerland, followed by Italy, Germany, Kosovo and Syria. Among the smugglers, 231 used road networks while 36 brought migrants over the border via the train and four used airline routes.

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