BERLIN, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Police and customs officers have checked around 3,290 people in more than 340 locations across Germany in a campaign targeting perpetrators of human trafficking and illegally employed people, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) said on Tuesday.

The BKA said that in at least 36 cases they found proof of human trafficking or exploitation, and the authorities are now considering the initiation of preliminary proceedings.

Last week, inspections were conducted across Europe to combat human trafficking and exploitation. According to the BKA, 19 European countries took part in the operation.

According to a study published in 2019 by the German Economic Institute (IW), illegal employment had caused 300 billion euros (352 billion U.S. dollars) in lost revenues to German companies. The study highlighted the "comparatively widespread" use of undeclared workers in the construction sector.

This year, the investigators in Germany focused on beauty salons, the gastronomy sector, service stations, the transport industry as well as construction sites, according to the BKA.

Also on Tuesday, around 300 officers of the State Office of Criminal Investigation (LKA) as well as tax investigators searched residential and business premises in German capital Berlin and the surrounding federal state of Brandenburg.

Investigations in suspected money laundering, fraud and tax evasion were directed against four suspects, some of them were ascribed to organized crime, the General Prosecutor's Office Berlin said via Twitter. Enditem

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