Dutch border police have arrested 41 people for people smuggling since controls were tightened up in mid-September, RTL news says on Monday.

The RTL report did not state how many people were being smuggled into the country by the suspects when they were caught, nor where they were picked up.

Border controls on roads, at airports, international trains and waterways have been stepped up since September 17 as part of Dutch efforts to stop asylum seekers being smuggled into the country.

In 2015 as a whole, 160 people were arrested for people smuggling.

Junior justice minister Klaas Dijkhoff went public with the new arrest figures during a visit to the Hazeldonk border area between the Netherlands and Belgium. Before controls were stepped up, spot checks turned up three smugglers a week, the minister said. That figure has now more than doubled to seven.

Dijkhoff also said on Monday that 1,800 people had requested asylum in the Netherlands last week. This is up 100 on the previous week.