Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) has warned of an increasing danger of organized crime as “crime as a service” in Germany. When presenting the so-called situation reports on organized crime and drugs, he said: "Organized crime in Germany is still on the rise." The number of cases is increasing, as is the amount of damage and the willingness to resort to violence.
“Violence is offered as a service,” Dobrindt warned. »What is particularly perfidious is that minors are increasingly being used for crimes and that minors are also increasingly being used as so-called disposable criminals. They are recruited, burned, dropped, while those behind them remain hidden.”
Dobrindt said that a significant part of organized crime in Germany is narcotics. In 2025, the number of drug crimes will have increased by almost five percent. Cannabis is no longer counted. The number of drug-related deaths is also increasing: in 2025 there were 2,150 deaths. “And one has to assume that this development can and possibly will unfortunately continue,” he said.
“We are experiencing a flood of cocaine in Germany,” said Dobrindt. The fact that a smaller amount of cocaine was seized last year is a deceptive finding. A clear sign of this is that the price on the market is falling because: "This is because there is an oversupply of cocaine on the market."
He referred to the joint action plan with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice. "We want to dry out organized crime and hit where it is most vulnerable," he said. "It's about the money." The goal is to skim off the money. That means “not just arresting the couriers, but the accounts – arresting them, holding them and then confiscating them.”
BKA boss Holger Münch referred to a generational change in organized crime. The classic image of organized crime with closed structures, discretion and isolation is a thing of the past. “We are increasingly observing in Germany that a new generation of perpetrators, such as the so-called 'Generation Z Mafia' of Turkish origin, are aggressively staging their power and acts of violence on social media,” said Münch. Criminals increasingly presented themselves on social media, for example when recovering cocaine by boat.
Violence is becoming increasingly accepted and becoming an economically viable service. "The use of violence is seen as a legitimate option for action and, like many other criminal activities (...), is outsourced as a professional service," said Münch. He reiterated the warning against crime as a service.
Investigations focus on money flow
In view of the new organizational forms of crime, a paradigm shift is also needed on the part of law enforcement, said Münch. »It is no longer just the question: Who committed the crime?, but: Who ordered it? Who arranged them? Who funded it? Who benefits from this?” A criminal service can now be offered, commissioned and conveyed specifically via digital channels, social media or encrypted messengers. For this to happen, the client and the perpetrator would not have to meet. Transnationality is therefore the essential characteristic of organized crime.
According to Münch, what is particularly worrying is that states are also using the services of criminals and are being hit by them. "Money laundering, corruption or violence can contribute to social destabilization, just as cyber attacks are specifically purchased by state actors as 'crime as a service' crimes." Here, too, it is about following the flow of money and destroying it sustainably in order to prevent such crimes and protect states. He also cited drug trafficking as an important focus, as cocaine trafficking is still the most important source of money for organized crime.
