Dutch detain Paraguayan human trafficking suspect
(THE HAGUE) - Dutch authorities have detained a Paraguayan man accused of trying to smuggle 44 of his fellow countrymen into Europe through Amsterdam's airport, police said Wednesday.
"The man, age 38, was detained Tuesday night as he accompanied a group of 44 Paraguayans, most of them adult women," said police spokesman Robert van Kapel.
"It is unusual to intercept a group of this size," he said.
The Paraguayans were unable to provide the same story about their final destination, the spokesman said.
"They apparently wanted to enter the Schengen (European Union passport-free) area under false pretences: not to go on vacation, but to enter illegally," he said.
The 44 Paraguayans are to be sent back rapidly to their Latin American home country, police said. Their guide has been detained on suspicion of human trafficking.
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