Customs investigators seize record amount of drug Captagon
The Essen customs investigation department has been investigating a Syrian drug gang since the end of 2022. In recent months, they have seized hundreds of kilograms of the dangerous amphetamine Captagon. Four Syrians are now in custody.
In recent months, customs investigators have seized the largest quantity of the drug Captagon ever found in Germany. A total of 461 kilograms of tablets worth 64.5 million US dollars were found, according to the customs investigation department in Essen and the public prosecutor's office in Aachen. This corresponds to around 59 million euros. Four Syrian nationals aged between 33 and 45 are in custody.
According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, Captagon is highly addictive and can cause depression, hallucinations and anxiety. The drug belongs to the amphetamine group. The broadcasters BR, MDR, SWR and RBB, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Mediengruppe Bayern had initially reported on joint research into this. The customs investigation office in Essen and the organized crime department of the public prosecutor's office in Aachen had been investigating a Syrian group of perpetrators on suspicion of commercial and gang smuggling and trafficking of narcotics since the end of 2022, the two authorities announced.
Pizza oven, scented candles and brake cylinders as drug stash
The first major find was made at the end of 2022: at Cologne/Bonn Airport, officials from the main customs office there discovered more than ten kilograms of Captagon tablets - around 59,000 of them - during an inspection of parcels bound for Bahrain. "The drugs were hidden in seven packages in brake cylinders," the investigators reported. During a customs inspection at Leipzig Airport, around 32 kilograms of Captagon tablets, hidden in scented candles, were also seized in two parcel shipments to Saudi Arabia. Investigations into the senders reportedly led to four suspects living in Aachen, Alsdorf and Vienna.
Investigators subsequently succeeded in locating a garage rented by the group of perpetrators. Last September, the main customs office in Leipzig seized a further 17 kilograms of Captagon tablets during an inspection. "The drugs were hidden in a pizza oven here and were to be sent to Saudi Arabia," the investigators said in the statement. In the same month, another shipment of around 30 kilograms of Captagon tablets to Bahrain was prevented at Cologne/Bonn Airport. Here, the drugs had been installed in an air filter as camouflage.
At the beginning of October, officers from the Essen customs investigation office finally executed arrest warrants against the four suspects on behalf of the Aachen public prosecutor's office and searched their homes and the garages they had rented. In the garage storage area, the investigators discovered a suitcase containing 48 kilograms of Captagon tablets and pallets with 16 tons of sand, under which a further 324 kilograms of Captagon tablets were hidden in sacks. Numerous items of evidence were secured during the search. An initial analysis led the investigators to another storage location rented by the group of criminals in Herzogenrath near Aachen.
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Source: www.ntv.de
