GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Swiss customs agents have been using x-ray equipment since 2003 to check bags and merchandise, but this week they have recently begun using a more sophisticated scanner in Geneva. The new system was installed at Bardonnex, a major border for trucks carrying merchandise.

The amount of marijuana picked up at Swiss border stations in Ticino and Geneva rose last year, as did the amount of illegal meat, often unrefrigerated, and counterfeiting as well as the transport of endangered species is on the rise. Two illegal immigrants have been found inside trucks and the fear for refugees who are victims of human trafficking is growing.

In the face of more travel, more merchandise and increasingly sophisticated techniques used by criminals, says the Federal Customs Office, agents at borders need reliable, modern equipment. The new scanner is twice as powerful as previous x-ray gear. A truck’s contents and the cabin can be scanned in a couple of minutes with great precision; it takes specially-trained agents 5 to 10 minutes to analyze the images, a significant gain in time.

Swiss customs will continue to use its four mobile x-ray machines for merchandise, spread around the country, as well as a dozen mobile x-ray machines for baggage and another 12 fixed machines for bags.