Sweden sees hike in human trafficking suspects

Over 300 people have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking in Sweden over the past year.

The figures are from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention and represent a significant increase in arrests.

There were five times as many human-trafficking suspects arrested in the first half of 2016 compared to the same period last year, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported.

The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention reports that a total 363 people were arrested between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016.

The spike can be partially explained by Sweden's introduction of identity controls, with more people smugglers now being caught at the country's borders. However, there has also been a rise in human trafficking, with more people being smuggled across borders now, according to the Swedish police.

"We are finding people who don't know their driver at all, people who hide under blankets. [The smuggler] can also be a taxi driver who charges scandalous amounts to bring people into the country," border police Mikael Matsson told Dagens Nyheter.

According to the police, there are around 40 criminal networks that deal with human trafficking by using Swedish passports. There are also several other networks that use other means to bring people into the country illegally.

The police's National Operations Department said that in some cases, newly arrived migrants have been hired as people smugglers.

"In some instances, they were smuggled by the same organization themselves and are acting as traffickers as part of their pay-back deals," said Nicklas Lundh, a section chief at the National Operations Department. Endit