Swedish police have arrested a man in his 40s on suspicion of being paid to smuggle a child into the country.
The man was arrested at Stockholm’s Skavsta airport on Saturday after the child arrived at the airport and went through passport control. Airport employees noticed that the child’s identity documents did not match and informed the police.
According to a report from Swedish broadcaster SVT, the man was remanded into custody by the Nyköping District Court. Prosecutors allege that the man, who comes from Gothenburg, has been paid cash to smuggle the child into the country.
The broadcaster did not disclose the nationality of the man and the child. The suspect has since denied the charges against him.
While greatly reduced due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, Sweden continues to see new arrivals of illegal migrants and asylum seekers. Last year, Sweden took in nearly three times more migrants than all of her Nordic neighbours combined.
Over the last year, several people trafficking networks have been caught and dismantled in European countries, such as a Romanian sex trafficking ring operating in Austria, which was busted earlier this month.
Sweden’s neighbour Finland saw a large increase in the number of human trafficking victims seeking help in 2020, with 123 people contacting the Assistance for Victims of Human Trafficking Centre last year, nearly twice the figure from the previous year.
Last month, police operations in Germany and Slovakia led to the arrests of two women accused of smuggling Vietnamese nationals into Germany and other countries and forcing them into working off debt in massage parlours and brothels.
According to investigators, the women charged as much as €13,000 to €21,000 (£18,000/$15,500 to £29,3000/$25,000) to smuggle them into western European countries.