The police have arrested more smugglers in Baden-Württemberg. This emerges from figures from the Ministry of the Interior. When transferring the suspects, the investigators are repeatedly faced with the same problem.
mbo/dpa/lsw
December 12, 2023 – 6:49 a.m
This year there has been an increase in the number of suspects who have smuggled foreigners into Baden-Württemberg. Compared to the same period last year, there has been an increase between January and October, the Interior Ministry responded to a state parliament question from the AfD. Most recently, there were a total of 184 suspected smugglers in 2022 (2021: 210).
However, the number of suspects who are accused of smuggling in resulting in death as well as of smuggling in foreigners for commercial purposes and in gangs is once again declining (2022: 22/2021: 48).
Cell phone analysis is a problem
In order to initiate an investigation against smugglers, their cell phones would first have to be evaluated. This takes different amounts of time. “The evaluation time of a mobile phone is individual and depends on a variety of factors such as the device manufacturer and type, the locking status and the amount of data,” it said.
The police union (GdP) recently complained that there were major problems with the analysis of smugglers’ cell phones. There are therefore thousands of smugglers’ cell phones in the offices that have not been read because they do not have the appropriate staff or technology for this. “The evaluation could potentially reveal important information about routes, strategies and contacts,” said GdP chairman Andreas Roßkopf, who is responsible for federal police and customs.
Union: Police often lack technology and personnel
From the perspective of the German Police Union (DPolG), the border controls are having an effect. “More and more smugglers are being discovered. It is not a legal problem for criminals or suspects to analyze smugglers’ cell phones. However, the police often lack technology and personnel,” said DPolG state chief Ralf Kusterer. This is a problem that the state police also have in other areas of crime. “Even if we have the technical capabilities, the masses of smartphones and other digital devices overwhelm us – and not just when it comes to child pornography.”
Since May 2021, a special staff at the Freiburg regional council has been carrying out the so-called extraction of data carriers centrally for Baden-Württemberg.
Statistics have only been kept since May 2021, according to the request. The Freiburg special staff extracted a total of 53 mobile phones between May 2021 and December 2021. In 2022, the number of mobile phones extracted was 57. From January 2023 to November 28, 2023, 30 mobile phones were extracted.
2023-12-12 05:54:10
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