The Berlin police and other authorities are continuing their targeted action against so-called clan crime this year. By the end of April, the police had carried out 62 major control operations, 27 of them together with other authorities such as the districts, the tax office or the trade inspectorate. This was announced by the Senate Interior Administration on Wednesday.
During these operations, the police usually target certain shisha bars, gambling halls and restaurants frequented by criminal members of clans of Arab origin.
Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) announced that North Rhine-Westphalia had presented a report on combating clan crime at the Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK). Berlin has been doing this for a long time. “We will continue to fight clan crime with a high level of control pressure and the consistent punishment of even minor violations.”
Berlin, like the Ruhr area and Bremen, is considered a hotspot for criminal activities by clan members. Last year there were 178 major control operations in 572 objects in the capital. The police confiscated 68 weapons, 238 kilograms of water pipe tobacco, 53 gaming machines, 100,000 euros and 55 vehicles.
295 alleged perpetrators, mostly young men, and 849 crimes were assigned to the clan scene in the situation report. Above all, it was about drug trafficking, acts of violence, robberies, theft, fraud and traffic offences.
In 2018, the Senate passed a five-point plan against clan crime, and since then it has been stepping up action against suspects from certain extended families of Arabic origin.
The deadly knife attack on a clan member in Neukölln a month ago and the search for the perpetrator, which has so far been unsuccessful, also shows how silent and isolated the scene is towards the police. The victim, a 25-year-old multiple offender, was stabbed to death on April 30 during a dispute between two groups at a fair in Hasenheide Park.
