Darmstadt/Offenbach (dpa/lhe) - The police arrested seven suspected members of a gang from the Rhine-Main area specializing in ATM demolitions and drug trafficking. Those arrested on Tuesday are six men and one woman aged 22 to 33, said a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt on Wednesday. In addition, they are being investigated on suspicion of an attempted explosive device explosion, attempted serious gang theft and serious arson, the investigators said in a statement.
Three of the suspects are accused of trying to blow up ATMs in Obertshausen, Offenbach and Lauterbach (Vogelsbergkreis) in January and February 2021, together with gang members who had already been arrested. A 33-year-old was primarily responsible for planning and coordinating the simultaneous blasting in Obertshausen and Offenbach. A 23-year-old is said to have observed and blocked access roads, with burning cars blocking access to the crime scene. A 28-year-old woman is said to have rented two high-powered getaway cars and a holiday apartment that was used to scout out the crime scene in Lauterbach. Other members of the group had already been sentenced to several years in prison for the attempted demolition in Lauterbach, it said.
Several members of the alleged criminal organization, including four of those arrested, are said to have dealt in 2020 and 2021 with cocaine, heroin, amphetamine, hashish and cannabis in particular. They imported ingredients for amphetamine production from abroad, it said. In addition, chats were evaluated, after which they are said to have sold several hundred kilograms of drugs within a year. A significant part of it was made by individual suspects in Offenbach themselves.
Two of the suspects are accused of carrying out an arson attack on the family business of a former gang member in the Main-Taunus district in January 2020. This was preceded by a rift within the criminal organization.
Six of those arrested are in custody. Another suspect was due to appear before a magistrate on Wednesday. Cell phones, laptops, hashish and a money counting machine, among other things, were confiscated during the searches in Offenbach and in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district.
