Closer cooperation between federal and cantonal authorities resulted in a record haul of 560kg of cocaine last year.

The Federal Police Office says joint efforts with the cantonal police, customs and border guards are focusing on networks of criminal drug dealers from western Africa.

The aim is to make Switzerland unattractive for the trade in cocaine, a senior official told a news conference on Tuesday.

He added that the exchange of information between the different security forces and international police had led to the dismantling of several cocaine gangs.

Many of those arrested by security forces are asylum seekers from Nigeria, Guinea and Sierra Leone, as well as dealers from southeastern Europe, he said.

The federal criminal police, several cantons and the border guards launched a project for closer operation 18 months ago.

swissinfo.ch and agencies

This article was automatically imported from our old content management system. If you see any display errors, please let us know: community-feedback@swissinfo.ch