Man sent to prison for smuggling 23 immigrants into Switzerland

The Gambian man was stopped by police in canton Nidwalden Keystone / Urs Flueeler

A human trafficker has been given a partial prison sentence and a suspended fine by the Nidwalden Cantonal Court. The 27-year-old Gambian had driven 23 people from Italy to Switzerland in a van.

On Thursday the court found the accused guilty of deprivation of liberty and violation of the Aliens Act. He was sentenced to 36 months in prison, half of which was conditional for two years. In addition, he received a conditional fine of CHF1,200 ($1,340).

The man, who lives in Italy, was also banned from Switzerland for ten years. He had accepted the accusations and the prosecution’s plea, so the trial could be conducted in summary proceedings. The verdict is final.

The man had driven a van from Italy to Switzerland in September 2022. He crossed the border at Stabio, canton Ticino, at 4.20 am. Two-and-a-half hours later he was stopped in Hergiswil, canton Nidwalden, in central Switzerland. The police had found a “needle in a haystack” in the fight against traffickers, the prosecutor told the court.

The police freed 23 men from Afghanistan, Syria, India and Bangladesh without valid identity papers from the 5.4 square metre hold, which had neither windows nor ventilation. The plan had been to take them to Basel and hand them over to another smuggler for the onward journey to Germany or France.

The men were between 20 and 50 years old and visibly weakened, the prosecutor said. According to the migrants, they had tried to open the door and remove the rubber seal because of the lack of oxygen. The men also tried to get the driver to stop by knocking and shouting, but he did not react.

The presiding judge asked the accused if he was aware that this could have ended in disaster. He explained he had not been aware that people could have died. He had also not known how many people he was transporting. He explained that he had not reacted to the knocks and screams because he had been listening to music with headphones and had been instructed by his employers not to stop.

‘Needed the money’

According to the prosecution, this was not the Gambian’s first experience of human trafficking. He had already made eight trips from Italy to Basel in August, but with a passenger car in which he transported three to four immigrants.

According to the defence lawyer, the accused received €100-€200 (CHF98-CHF195) for the trips. He had urgently needed the money because one of his two children was chronically ill. He had only been the recipient of orders, the lawyer continued.

The prosecutor also admitted that the accused had only been a small cog in the organisation and had taken a big risk for little money. Nevertheless, it was not a minor offence, she said.