More than 500 officers deployed in raids on drugs and weapons

With a large contingent, the police on Thursday in Thuringia, Schleswig-Holstein and Berlin searched premises of suspects from the right-wing scene. According to the Thuringian State Criminal Police Office (TLKA), raids were carried out in a total of 26 residential and business premises.

More than 500 officers from Thuringia and special forces from other federal states were deployed. Suspicion exists because of the trade with narcotics in connection with money laundering as well as offence against the weapon law. Investigations are underway in five cases against a total of ten suspects. Seven arrest warrants were executed.

According to information from Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR), the measures were aimed at the Thuringian neo-Nazi scene and the so-called "Turonen" network. The TLKA and the public prosecutor's office in Gera, which is responsible for organized crime, had already taken action against the group in February of last year. The TLKA did not want to confirm the connection with reference to the ongoing investigations.

Since the early morning hours, properties in the districts of Erfurt, Gotha, Weimar, Saale-Orla, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, Eisenach as well as in Schleswig-Holstein and Berlin were searched, according to the information.

The officers seized, among other things, alarm guns and a presumably live handgun with ammunition. In addition, cryptocurrency in an as yet unknown amount was seized and account seizures were initiated for six defendants.

Several cell phones and crypto phones, a larger amount of cash, computer technology and storage media, and a small amount of narcotics were also seized. More detailed information was not initially available due to the ongoing operational measures and the high number of operational locations.

In direct connection with the investigations of the regional criminal investigation department the criminal investigation department Saalfeld accomplishes likewise searches because of the suspicion on drug trade. In the course of these measures, two further suspects aged 26 and 34 are to be arrested.

Image by Jacqueline Macou