Smugglers, drugs, weapons: the investigators processed more than 56,000 cases last year, a record number. The balance sheet at a glance.
In the past year, the Bavarian border police have had more hits, picked up more refugees and migrants as well as people smugglers and also seized more drugs and weapons than in the previous year. The number of cases processed rose to a total of almost 56,100 in 2022. That is an increase of 5.5 percent compared to the previous year – and a record value since the border police existed, as the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior announced. “We need the Bavarian border police more than ever,” said Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) on Friday at a veil search checkpoint near Waidhaus.
Together with the Federal Police, it secures around 1000 kilometers of the border along the Free State. Its establishment in 2018 was highly controversial. “Tens of thousands of criminals are caught by our border investigators every year,” emphasized Herrmann and received encouragement from Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU). “This not only benefits security in Bavaria, but throughout Germany.”
In 2022, the Bavarian border investigators achieved a total of almost 21,100 hits in the manhunt controls, the temporary controls at the border with Austria and the border controls at the Bavarian airports of Nuremberg and Memmingen (up 17.8 percent on the previous year). In addition, the 800 officers identified 3,068 cases of unauthorized entry, an increase of 58 percent. More migrants were apprehended, especially at the borders. There, the plus compared to the pre-Corona year 2019 was around 88 percent. Since then, the number of locks discovered has quadrupled to 188.
In addition, the Bavarian border police uncovered a good 1,100 weapons and explosives offenses last year, which was an increase of 61 percent over the previous year. Forged passports and other document offenses increased by a good 15 percent to almost 1,600 cases, and drug-related crime increased by around 36 percent to 3,700 cases. The amount of drugs seized rose by a fifth to 414 kilograms.