BERLIN (AP) – Hundreds of German police and other investigators attacked more than 20 buildings in Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg early Thursday in a crackdown on two organized crime families, authorities said.
Two people, a 44-year-old man and a 22-year-old man, were arrested, police said. No names were given in accordance with German privacy laws.
Police are investigating illegal drug and arms trafficking, as well as allegations of bodily harm related to a “clan clash” between an Arab family and a Chechen organized crime group in November last year, prosecutors said in a joint statement with police. At that time, there were several violent confrontations between the two organizations.
The 44-year-old detainee was reportedly part of at least one failure, despite being monitored by an electronic anchor, authorities said.
In addition to being suspected of causing bodily harm, the 44-year-old is accused of violating weapons, as well as running a marijuana plantation and operating a cocaine delivery service.
The 22-year-old is facing drug and gun charges, as is another 22-year-old suspect who is wanted, police said.
Berlin’s top security official, Minister of State Andreas Geisel, said the raids showed that the authorities were committed to combating organized crime in the capital.
“These searches and arrests show that we stick to it,” he said. “We are not slowing down in our systematic fight against organized crime, no matter who is behind it.”
Berlin police said that in addition to their own SWAT teams and other staff members, more than 500 staff in total were involved in raids by federal agents, Brandenburg police and tax officials.
Authorities did not provide further details, but Bild reported that one of the targets was the Remmo family, who alleged links to two recent spectacular robberies.
Two of the main suspects in the theft in 2019 18th-century jewelry from a museum in Dresden last year is part of the family that has ties to Beirut.
Mohamed Remmo, 21, was arrested by Berlin authorities in December in connection with the theft of the Green Vault museum, while his twin brother, Abdul Majed Remmo, is wanted on an international mandate.
Other members of the Remmo family were convicted last year of a spectacular hoif, the theft of a 100-kilogram (220-pound) Canadian gold coin called the “Big Maple Leaf” from the Bode Museum in Berlin in 2017.
The coin, with an estimated value of 3.75 million euros ($ 4.45 million), has not yet been recovered and authorities believe it was probably cut into smaller pieces. and sold.