In a bar on the Schwanthalerhöhe on an afternoon in the summer of 2021, Krista M. reached an agreement with a man he had never known before. He showed great interest in the goods that M. had offered him during a conversation: an AK 47, a fully functional assault rifle with ammunition. In Germany, the AK 47 falls under the War Weapons Act and is therefore prohibited. The assault rifle is widely used by assassins in terrorist attacks around the world.
Krista M. suggested to the stranger that they first deliver two AK 47s at a price of 2,000 to 3,000 euros each. If the business goes smoothly, he could “in the future also get weapons in larger quantities,” Krista M. promised the stranger, as stated in the indictment of the public prosecutor’s office at the Munich I District Court. But what the 62-year-old mechanical engineer from Croatia didn’t know was that the stranger, whom he met in the bar on the Schwanthalerhöhe, was a so-called “person of trust” for the police – an informer.
When Krista M. returned to Munich from Croatia on October 26, 2021, he was arrested by the police at the bus station on Arnulfstrasse. Since then he has been in custody. The case against him, among other things because of the intentional illegal import of weapons of war, has already been called up twice before the 8th Criminal Chamber at the Munich I District Court. The first process was suspended because M. was to be examined psychiatrically first.
The second attempt in December 2022 failed because the 62-year-old’s defender was ill. M. had not accepted his deputy. The lawyer has since recovered. This Thursday, attorney Kai Wagler made a brief statement for his client, in which the allegations from the indictment of the public prosecutor’s office were acknowledged.
After coming to an agreement with the stranger from the bar, Krista M. brought two instead of three assault rifles to Munich, probably from Serbia or Croatia. At a meeting on the Harras, he showed the spy his guns. They were in a gym bag. A price of 9,000 euros was agreed and that they would meet again as soon as possible to make the deal perfect.
Two acquaintances took over the transfer of the explosive cargo
The spy then received the required 9,000 euros from the police. Shortly before the weapons were handed over, however, the “person of trust” visited a prostitute, a police officer reported at the hearing on Thursday. She stole all the money. On September 13, 2021, the “person of trust”, equipped with another 9000 euros, agreed to meet again with Krista M. The deal was settled in a residential area in Mittersendling. According to the indictment, M. held out the prospect of “being able to deliver ten to twenty assault rifles” in the future.
When the 62-year-old contacted his customer again a few days after September 13, he stated that he “definitely wants to do another deal”. This time Krista M. promised an AK 47, a submachine gun and two large caliber pistols. The police “shop steward” and an undercover police officer who was also involved in the first transaction accepted the offer. Two of Krista M’s acquaintances took over the transfer of the explosive cargo. The 62-year-old had only told them to load his Mercedes van onto a trailer and drive to Munich for repairs.
A bag containing the guns and ammunition was found in M’s car, hidden under fruit and vegetables. When the two acquaintances of the accused wanted to cross the border near Freilassing at night at the end of October 2021, their journey ended. And not because the officers knew anything about the guns in Ms Mercedes. The machine builder’s acquaintances were stopped because of a Sunday driving ban in force at the time. Only when the officers searched the vehicle on the trailer did they discover the bag with the weapons. A verdict in the trial is expected next week.