Berlin Police report significant increase in noise crime
Berlin is a hotspot for criminal clan members. They steal, deal illegal drugs, and kill. The authorities register a wide and varied palette of crimes, many of which originate from - predominantly Arab-stemmed - large families. Criminality seems to be a male-dominated domain.
The Berlin Police investigated 65 crimes against a 24-year-old clan member. This earned him the shameful top spot in the new picture of organized crime in the Berlin Senate Department.
This development is alarming: In the city that is considered a nationwide hotspot for this form of organized crime, the police recorded 1,063 such crimes in 2023, an increase of nearly 20% over the previous year.
The list is just as long and varied. Traffic offenses (158), bodily harm (135), theft and embezzlement (132), drug offenses (112), and fraud (103) are particularly common. Following these are threats, even with weapons (66), insults (55), robbery (41), or money laundering (30). Five murder cases were also among them (2022: 3).
As previously mentioned, 298 suspects were identified in connection with these crimes (2022: 303). A total of 633 people were counted by investigators with the Berlin Clan criminal milieu as of December 31, 2023 (2022: 582). It seems that this is a male-dominated domain: Only 37 women are among them.
Authorities act in coordination
Approximately 45.2% of the identified suspects are German citizens. About 23.2% - almost a quarter - are listed as Lebanese or German-Lebanese in the statistics. The citizenship of about 17% is unclear. In addition, the investigators assign Turkish or German-Turkish citizenship (6.2%), Syrians (2.5%), and Swedes (1.3%) to the Berlin Clan criminal milieu.
Crimes committed by clan members accounted for approximately 0.2% of the total crime in Berlin in 2023, in terms of the number of suspects, it was 0.5%. However, the authorities have been paying close attention to and coordinating their efforts against these groups since at least 2018.
A possible trigger for this was the spectacular theft of a 100-kilogram gold coin from the Bode Museum in 2017, which, according to court findings, involved members of an Arab-stemmed large family.
Absorbing the assets of the Clans
A crucial point of the previously adopted action plan is intensive control and the absorption of clan assets, which are believed to have been obtained through criminal activities. This affects the groups more than prison sentences, which are often seen as an "award" in the milieu, according to investigators.
In this context, the police and other institutions such as city offices, customs and finance authorities, conducted a total of 126 control raids in 2023. These raids inspected 486 businesses including cafes, shisha bars, late-night shops, barber shops, betting offices, car dealerships and rentals, or brothels. Twenty of these establishments were closed, 324 criminal complaints were filed and 21 arrest warrants were executed.
Moreover, investigators seized various items and cash, including 20 cars, 49 gambling machines, 15 weapons, as well as large quantities of untaxed cigarettes, e-cigarettes, 62.7 kg of water pipe tobacco, and hundreds of units of drugs. According to statistics, the total value of these confiscated items was lower than in 2022.
"Organized crime in Berlin has been undermining our legal and value system for decades," declared Berlin's Senator for the Interior, Iris Spranger, regarding the new situation report. "We will continue to deny criminal structures a breeding ground." These parallel worlds must be dismantled step by step.
"Effective combating of organized crime relies on financial investigations, which we lead with the goal of confiscating illicitly introduced assets," said Berlin Police President Barbara Slowik. "Our focus in Berlin is primarily on the used car trade, the construction, security, and catering industries."
According to the assessment of the chairman of the Police Union (GdP), Stephan Weh, the state needs a long breath. "We have increased the pressure on criminal clans in Berlin in recent years, but it will take a long time to finally put an end to this Hydra." Weh demanded new measures, such as a full burden of proof reversal in asset forfeiture. A suspect without income and assets would then have to prove where they got the money for the purchase of a villa or a luxury car.
Controversial term
The term organized crime is controversial because, according to critics, it stigmatizes and discriminates against people based on their family background and origin. According to the police definition, a clan is an informal social organization determined by the common descent of its members.
Organized crime therefore includes "criminal behavior" of clan members. "Clan membership is a binding, facilitating, or hindering component of the offense, where their own norms and values can be set against the German legal order."
The Berlin Police are actively investigating the involvement of clan members in organized crime, especially in the areas of drug offenses, fraud, and money laundering. This is a significant concern, as international organized crime networks have been expanding their influence in Berlin, contributing to an increase of nearly 20% in such crimes in 2023.
Recognizing the cross-border nature of this issue, authorities are collaborating with international counterparts to combat this organized crime, understanding that the revitalization of Berlin's legal and value system requires a coordinated, global approach.
