Germany arrests man suspected of organizing boat crossing in which 5 migrants drowned

BERLIN – Police in Germany have arrested a suspected people-trafficker over the drowning of five migrants off the coast of Turkey in April.

Jens Schobranski, a spokesman for federal police, says the 37-year-old Syrian man was arrested Tuesday in Strausberg, near Berlin.

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Schobranski said Wednesday that a relative of one of those who drowned tracked down the unidentified suspect and tipped German police.

The suspect, who came to Germany as a refugee in August, allegedly had taken $2,400 from fellow Syrian migrants and put them on a small boat to Greece despite bad weather. It capsized and sank.

Schobranski said police are hoping others harmed by the man’s actions might come forward. He faces a minimum of three years imprisonment if convicted of trafficking resulting in death.