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Germany is trying to crack down on soaring numbers of illegal migrants

By Jessica Parker

BBC Berlin correspondent, Saxony

Armed police officers wave cars off the motorway going from Poland to Germany.

They're searching for people-smugglers and their desperate cargo.

This is the German government's latest bid to show it is getting a grip on rising levels of irregular migration.

But, as we found in a rural border district, there's little sense of control.

Altenberg is a small town in Saxony, right by the Czech Republic.

Families race down a toboggan run that weaves through the forest and, when winter's here, there's even a small ski resort.

The local mayor, Markus Wiesenberg, says that - in this area alone - smugglers drop off people as often as once a day.

"The trafficker disappears and probably picks up the next load."

New arrivals put a strain on local services, he says, as well as local people.

"Sometimes they find sleeping bags and campfires in the woods and they are worried for their children."