Federal police have searched properties in south-western Germany in a crackdown on people smuggling.
A police spokesman told dpa on Tuesday that four arrest warrants had already been executed and a total of 24 apartments in the city of Mannheim and around nearby Karlsruhe and Worms were searched.
A group of seven people alleged to be people traffickers are being investigated.
The police spokesman told dpa the group in question is alleged to have brought people from the Middle East and the Caucasus to Germany and, at least in some cases, allowed them to work in the EU country without residence permits.
Police have been conducting investigations in the alleged operation since January on suspicion of people smuggling, employing migrants without residence permits and fraud.
