RAF-Investigations - Weapons and Money - Thousands of RAF Assets Secured
Weapons, Ammunition and Money: Investigators secured several Thousands of Exhibits in the apartment of the former RAF-Terrorist Daniela Klette in Berlin. They found among other things a Polish assault rifle, a Czech machine pistol and a convincing replica of a Panzerfaust, as the Prosecutor's Office Verden and the Criminal Investigation Office Lower Saxony announced. The investigators assume that Klette and her accomplices used these weapons and the replicas during robberies.
The former RAF trio Daniela Klette, Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg are suspected to have stolen around 2.7 million Euros during the robberies - also with the help of at least one of the weapons, the investigators stated. They are believed to have used one of the weapons to shoot at their victims to threaten them with death or to force them into action.
The investigators suspect that the trio used these weapons for example during a robbery on a money transport vehicle in Cremlingen east of Braunschweig in June 2016. At that time, a passenger of a money transport vehicle was violently taken hostage. After a shot at the money transport vehicle, the driver opened the vehicle and the perpetrators could escape with the loot.
The replica resembles, according to the investigators, a Panzerfaust that was developed in the Soviet Union in the 60s and used in various wars as an improvised anti-aircraft weapon. The replica is partly made of original parts, making it hardly distinguishable from a real weapon. Klette, Staub and Garweg are believed to have intimidated and threatened their victims with these replicas during several robberies.
The investigators suspect that the replica and at least one of the weapons were used during a robbery on a money transport vehicle in Stuhr south of Bremen in June 2015. The trio is believed to have threatened the messengers with a Panzerfaust and a Sturmgewehr. They attempted to force the men to open the vehicle with multiple shots at the money transport vehicle. Two shots from the Sturmgewehr penetrated the driver's cabin, but the messengers remained unharmed. The perpetrators eventually escaped without loot.
Since 2015, the Prosecutor's Office Verden has been investigating Daniela Klette, Ernst-Volker Staub and Burkhard Garweg for attempted murder as well as attempted and completed armed robbery in several cases. Klette was arrested at the end of February in Berlin-Kreuzberg, Staub and Garweg are still being sought. They were part of the so-called third generation of the left-wing extremist Red Army Faction (RAF), which killed more than 30 people. The RAF declared itself dissolved in 1998.
After Klette's arrest, the investigators reportedly seized, according to their own statements, more than 450 rounds of permit-required ammunition, a revolver with a blank cartridge, and two stun guns. It is possible that one of the stun guns was used during a robbery at a supermarket in Osnabrück in January 2015 to force two victims, including a pregnant woman, to open a safe.
The authorities also secured more than 240,000 Euros in cash and over a kilogram of gold. Preliminary findings suggest that at least parts of this sum were obtained during the robberies. The investigators suspect that Daniela Klette exchanged larger sums of cash from the robberies. Among the exhibits were also stickers, wigs, fake beards, masks, helmets and fabric masks to hide their identities. The trio is also believed to have used a mobile blue light unit, handcuffs and a walkie-talkie during their crimes to facilitate their escape or to immobilize an victim with handcuffs in one case.
The investigators have now made public the photos of the exhibits and hope to receive tips as a result. They are addressing several questions to the population – for example, who can make statements about the finds, where the weapons come from, and where they were used.
After the publication of images of Ernst-Volker Staub at the beginning of July, a considerable number of tips have already been received, which the investigators are now checking. Tips are accepted by the LKA Lower Saxony and every police station. Anonymous information can also be reported online.
- The Polish assault rifle and the Czech machine pistol found in Daniela Klette's apartment are examples of war weapons that were likely used during robberies.
- The Criminal Investigation Office in Lower Saxony is closely examining a convincing replica of a Panzerfaust, a Soviet Union war weapon, believed to have been used in multiple robberies.
- The Money Transporter vehicle in Cremlingen was robbed in June 2016, and the trio is suspected to have used a weapon during the incident.
- Investigators believe the former RAF members used weapons, including the Panzerfaust replica, to intimidate and threaten their victims during several robberies.
- The money transport vehicle in Stuhr was targeted in June 2015, and the trio allegedly threatened the messengers with a Panzerfaust and a Sturmgewehr.
- Burkhard Garweg, along with Daniela Klette and Ernst-Volker Staub, is being sought by authorities in Germany for their involvement in various robberies and attempted murders.
- The Prosecutor's Office in Verden has been investigating the trio since 2015 for several armed robberies and attempts to murder in various incidents.
- In Osnabrück, a pregnant woman and another victim were reportedly forced to open a safe using a stun gun, one of the exhibits confiscated from Daniela Klette.
- Ernst-Volker Staub's image was published by authorities in July, resulting in numerous tips for the Prosecutor's Office in Lower Saxony and police stations across Germany.
- The public is urged to report any information related to the exhibits, including the origins and potential use locations of the weapons, to the LKA Lower Saxony or local police stations.
