The cantonal police are always looking for criminals at Zurich Airport. She also checks the passports of Swiss travelers returning – right in front of the plane.

A Nau.ch reporter was also checked last Thursday. “I came back from vacation in Greece, my flight started in Athens,” she reports.

«After landing, it took a while before I could disembark. I then saw that the police were checking passports right next to the plane.”

The police officers were standing in the aisle, just before the entrance to the airport. “They simply waved my partner through, but they checked my identity card carefully and also scanned it.”

A query to the cantonal police in Zurich shows that such controls are the exception, but they do happen from time to time. “The cantonal police carry out irregular and risk-based criminal police checks directly at the gate,” says spokesman Florian Frei.

According to Frei, the investigations focus on other offenses against the Aliens and Integration Act and the Narcotics Act. Means: The police are looking for illegal immigrants and drug dealers.

During the controls, various areas would be looked at, explains the Kapo. “The main focus on Thursday was illegal migration.”

The reporter’s identity card was scanned because it was queried in the Schengen information system, as Frei says. “It is checked whether travel documents are being used illegally or whether they are being searched for.”

The police do not say how often such checks are carried out. Only so much: “They take place irregularly and risk-based.”

In order to weigh up risks, the police analyze various characteristics. “Different criteria favor criminally relevant phenomena. In addition to the departure point and the nationality of the passengers, relevant criteria at Zurich Airport are also global political events.”