Members of German federal police Bundespolizei demonstrate their skills during a presentation of the new unit for arrests and securing evidence (BFE) in Ahrensfelde near Berlin, Germany December 16, 2015

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.

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.

Related articles across the web

• Six children drown in one night on migration journey
• How Powerful Is The Euro?
• German police close down Stuttgart 'Isis mosque' and raid Berlin flats in anti-terror operations
• The Latest: 4 Iraqi migrants drown off Turkish coast
• Happy endings for some of those on the run from strife and warfare
• Beethoven Speaks up for Refugees
• Why Did Merkel Go Nuts In 2015?
• Airberlin To Re-introduce Sofia-Berlin Flight in March 2016
• Surviving relatives of drowned Kurdish toddler Aylan Kurdi 'to be admitted to Canada'
• Sovereignty fears cloud EU debate over new border guard plan