Status: 01.11.2021 12:20 p.m.
837 million euros in economic damage, one billion looted assets – organized crime in Germany has increased according to the new BKA situation report. The perpetrators’ willingness to use violence also increased.
Organized crime in Germany caused economic damage of more than 800 million euros last year. This emerges from the “Federal Situation Report for Organized Crime 2020” of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
According to their own statements, the authorities carried out 594 preliminary investigations in 2020. More than a third of the groups deal in narcotics. Other main areas of crime include fraud and property crime.
More than a billion assets looted
According to the BKA, the perpetrators obtained a looted fortune worth more than one billion euros through their criminal machinations. That was 58 percent more than in 2019. The economic damage caused by the acts of organized gangs also grew by four percent to 837 million euros.
“These figures show the enormous profit opportunities and at the same time the essential incentive of the OC groups for their actions,” it says in the picture of the situation. The number of suspects has fallen slightly to around 6529 people.
The majority of the organized gangs that were investigated last year consisted of up to ten suspects (70.7 percent), almost a third (27.3 percent) had eleven to 50 members. The largest group comprised 158 people.
Seehofer: “Do not tolerate any legal vacancies”
At the same time, the police noted an increase in the number of armed suspects, particularly in the area of organized drug crime. According to the BKA, organized crime groups are increasingly willing to intimidate people and use violence – both against dropouts, members of hostile groups and investigators.
A large number of groups operate internationally – in 2020 this was the case for 433 proceedings. “The pressure on organized crime in Germany is higher than ever today,” said Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, according to the announcement. “Crime must not be worthwhile for anyone. We do not tolerate any unlawful areas, neither analog nor digital,” said the CDU politician.