Police carry out raids on Hells Angels money laundering network in several European countries

With a large-scale raid, the police with more than 1,000 emergency services in Germany and other European countries have been taking action against a money laundering network around the rockers of the “Hells Angels” since morning. According to the responsible police in Duisburg, several arrest warrants are also to be executed. In total, assets amounting to 48.6 million euros are to be confiscated. Searches are also underway in Rhineland-Palatinate.

As a police spokeswoman said, the operation was directed against an international network of money launderers and a criminal organization. According to information from the German Press Agency, this is the “Hells Angels”. According to the police, a total of more than 100 properties are being searched and there are 71 suspects.

According to the investigating authorities, these include “persons responsible for a money laundering network operating across Germany and Europe and high-ranking members of a rocker group.” They are “accused in particular of forming a criminal organization, predatory and commercial extortion, gang and commercial fraud and commercial money laundering,” it said in a statement. It also involves weapons offenses, bodily harm and tax evasion.

Numerous searches in North Rhine-Westphalia - large-scale operation in Duisburg

A dpa reporter observed a very large police operation with special operations forces (SEK) on Wednesday morning at the address of an influential “Hells Angels” rocker in Duisburg.

The police reported numerous searches in North Rhine-Westphalia. At the same time, searches of six properties in Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Berlin and Bavaria as well as seven properties in Belgium, Bulgaria and the Netherlands are taking place under our own responsibility.

The Duisburg public prosecutor's office is leading the investigation and the State Office for Combating Financial Crime in North Rhine-Westphalia is also involved.

“The case exemplifies the interconnectedness of criminal groups in the area of ​​organized crime and international economic crime,” said the investigators: “Through professional cover-ups, significant amounts of money are channeled into an artificial economic cycle and assets acquired through crimes are invested, among other things, in companies and real estate.”

According to “Bild”, the investigation has been going on for more than four years. The starting point was a spectacular shooting on the Hamborn Altmarkt in May 2022. During the confrontation in the Duisburg district with more than 100 people involved, rockers clashed with members of an extended Turkish-Lebanese family.