Police seize weapons in Franco-Swiss cross-border raid
During an unprecedented search of some 900 people and 500 vehicles in the Swiss-French border region, three days before the opening of the Olympic Games, officials seized banned weapons and ammunition.
The Swiss Federal Office of Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) said on Thursday that numerous violations of weapons, drugs, rubbish and tobacco import laws had been registered during the joint control with France, which searched areas stretching from Basel to canton Valais on Wednesday night.
A “handful” of prohibited weapons and ammunition were seized, a spokeswoman for the authorities told the Keystone-SDA news agency. The officers also caught at least one person who was wanted for arrest. The spokeswoman did not give any details.
+ Read more: Switzerland and France boost police cooperation
During the night, numerous customs officers and police patrolled the 570-kilometre frontier between the two countries. The aim was to combat cross-border crime and customs fraud.
The Swiss government already said in late May that border controls would be stepped up over the summer. The reason for this was the Euro2024 tournament in Germany and the Olympic Games in Paris and the increased threat of terrorism in connection with these two events. The terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) has called for attacks.
More controls increase the likelihood that border guards could seize weapons, prohibited objects or explosives, the government explained. The increased controls are to remain in place until the beginning of September.
Translated from German by DeepL/dos
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