Organized crime
“Mafia spins its web like in Italy”: Authorities suspect there are 1,000 active mafiosi in Germany
Police officers arrested four suspected mafia members in Munich in March 2023
© DPA
Money laundering, tax fraud, drug trafficking: According to data from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Italian mafia is spreading in Germany. Domestic politicians are alarmed.
According to a report, the Federal Ministry of the Interior puts the number of active members of the Italian mafia in Germany at more than 1,000. “According to the survey by the Federal Criminal Police Office, together with the state criminal investigation offices of the federal states, a total of 1,003 suspected members of the Italian Mafia living permanently in Germany could be identified in 2022 “Italian organized crime can be identified,” quoted the RND newspapers on Monday from a response from the Federal Ministry of the Interior to a Green Party request.
Of these, 519 belonged to the ‘Ndrangheta, 134 to the Cosa Nostra and 118 to the Camorra. The number increased by 87 compared to the previous year, as can be seen from the small question from the Green parliamentary group. They are particularly active in the catering industry, the food trade and the motor vehicle industry.
Mafia earns millions in Germany
The ministry’s response continued that crimes were committed with illegal narcotics as well as through money laundering and tax fraud. Criminal proceeds of around 2.3 million euros were identified, of which only around 683,000 euros were seized. According to the report, the ministry was unable to provide any information on the number of criminal cases against the mafia or the amount of actual profits.
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The chairman of the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag Interior Committee, Marcel Emmerich, told the editorial network Germany (RND): “The mafia is spinning its web in Germany today as well as in large parts of Italy.” She manages to “increasingly build relationships with politics and business under the guise of supposedly serious business people.”
Germany is “Europe’s washing machine” for criminals, said Emmerich. It is estimated that over 100 billion euros are laundered every year. Emmerich went on to say that it is a first step that real estate is no longer allowed to be purchased with cash. “It is also necessary to set up an exit program to show those affected a way out and to weaken the structures of organized crime.”
At the same time, he emphasized: “We have to pool competencies at a central point at the federal level if we want to take more decisive action against money laundering, organized crime and criminal financial networks.” The law enforcement authorities should be able to conduct complex investigations and be given the necessary resources to do so. To achieve this, the federal and state governments would have to work more closely together.