Focus: Police strike an international network suspected of money laundering

DÜSSELDORF, September 30 /ATSH-DPA/ – More than 1,000 police officers carried out a large operation this morning in Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria and the Netherlands against an international network suspected of money laundering, linked to members of the “Hells Angels” motorcycle group.

Duisburg police announced that several arrest warrants were expected to be executed during the operation, while authorities aim to seize assets worth around €48.6 million.

According to police, the operation targets an international money-laundering network run by criminal organizations for the “Hells Angels”.

In total, more than 100 properties are being searched, while 71 people are under investigation.

The suspects include people alleged to have held roles in a money-laundering network operating in Germany and other European countries, as well as high-ranking members of a motorcycle group.

Authorities suspect a range of criminal offenses, among them forming a criminal organization, extortion, organized fraud and money laundering.

The investigation also includes suspicions of violations of weapons laws, physical assaults and tax evasion.

Most of the searches are taking place in North Rhine-Westphalia, while six properties are being searched in other German states.

Seven more properties are being searched in Belgium, Bulgaria and the Netherlands.

The operation is led by Duisburg prosecutors, in cooperation with North Rhine-Westphalia’s authority for investigating financial crimes.

According to the newspaper “Bild”, the investigation has lasted more than four years and is believed to have begun after a firearms incident in Duisburg in May 2022.

In that case, more than 100 people were involved in a brawl between motorcyclists and members of an extended Turkish-Lebanese family.