Crime - Former head of the "XY gang": "They always wanted more money"
Twenty years after the raid against the "XY-Gang" in Neuruppin, the former head of the criminal group described his greed for money. It involved organized drug dealing, illegal gambling, and mafia-like structures in the Brandenburg town. The former head of the gang, Olaf Kamrath, told Rbb's "Täter - Opfer - Polizei" (Broadcast on Sunday evening), after his escape from the GDR just before the fall of the Wall, he thought about how to make money upon his return to the West. "Then one basically thought: What can we do here, what brings money?"
This was followed by the opening of a snack bar in Neuruppin, a gambling house, a fitness studio, and eventually a disco. "It ran bombastically," Kamrath told Rbb. "Somehow we then sniffed powder, we wanted to make more and more money and more and more money." The gang entered the drug trade in a big way. "Then we naturally came to the story about cocaine, which was very lucrative. That's where we went in."
Looking back, Kamrath said, about a book titled "The Godfather of Neuruppin" being written: "I built shit. That was all just pure crap." He hopes today, however, that he may have prevented others from committing crimes. "But maybe you also saved your grandchildren from that, maybe you're saving other generations in your family from that - with the warning result of what came out of it."
Kamrath, a former CDU city councilor, was sentenced to a prison term of twelve years in September 2006 for being the gang leader. Several co-defendants were also sent to prison. The gang got its name because its members displayed the letter combination XY on the number plates of their expensive cars as a sign of solidarity.
In August 2004, hundreds of police officers and several prosecutors conducted searches in several federal states against the "XY-Gang." Those involved included employees at the city administration and the police. It was about corruption and nepotism. Prosecutor Frank Winter spoke of "mafia-like structures."
The "XY-Gang" raid in Neuruppin was conducted by numerous police officers in August 2004, uncovering corruption and nepotism within the gang. This incident took place in Brandenburg, a region known for its history during the GDR era.
Olaf Kamrath, the former head of the "XY-Gang," reflected on his actions after his escape from the GDR before the fall of the Wall, admitting that he was driven by the desire to make money in the West.
The search and raid by the police in several federal states led to the imprisonment of Kamrath and several co-defendants for their roles in the criminal gang, including corruption and nepotism.
Despite his criminal past, Kamrath hopes that his story may serve as a warning to others, potentially preventing future generations of his family from falling into similar situations.
