Essen (dpa / lnw) - Customs investigators and investigators from the Federal Police and the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office have struck a blow against a drug gang that is suspected to be operating internationally. A total of 150 forces from various customs authorities as well as special forces from the Customs Criminal Police Office and the Federal Police searched a total of 19 properties in the Cologne/Aachen area on Thursday and arrested nine suspects aged between 35 and 50, the Essen customs investigation office and the Düsseldorf public prosecutor announced on Friday.
The yield of the drug raid: 655 cannabis plants, 5 kilograms of marijuana, 1.6 kg of amphetamine, 500 g of cocaine, 300 ecstasy tablets, 110,000 euros in cash and 5 weapons. The Essen customs investigation office, under the leadership of the central and contact point for the prosecution of organized crime in North Rhine-Westphalia (ZeOS), has been investigating a group of 13 suspects since February 2022 on suspicion of import smuggling and trafficking in large quantities of narcotics.
The gang is accused, among other things, of having obtained double-digit kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through front companies. As early as February, around 10 kilos of cocaine disguised as a coffee shipment from Colombia were seized during an inspection at Cologne/Bonn Airport. 9 suspects are said to have purchased marijuana in the three-digit kilogram range and brought it to Germany and the Netherlands. In September, a total of 559 kilograms of marijuana were seized in France, which, according to previous investigations, can also be attributed to the local group.
The street value of the narcotics found on Thursday was more than 100,000 euros. According to the information, the searches took place in Brüggen, Aachen, Bad Honnef, Bonn, Erkrath, Erkelenz, Hückelhoven, Cologne, Leverkusen and Neuss. The arrests took place in Bonn, Leverkusen, Brüggen, Erkrath, Hückelhoven and Bad Honnef.
