German Media: Chechen Mafia - New Headache for Germany

In the German press more and more messages appear about the activity of the Chechen mafia. Chechen organized crime groups in Germany are advancing on the heels of Arab, Turkish and Eastern European criminals. The latest high-profile publication on this topic was published in the Berliner Kurier. In an article titled "Battle-Gangs: The Bloody Trail of the Chechen Mafia," a Berlin newspaper reported on a gang of 250 people, distinguished by particular cruelty and unpredictability.

Murder in Berlin

On account of these bandits "spectacular terrorist attack" in the German capital in March 2016. Then a German of Turkish origin was blown up when he drove in his Volkswagen through the Charlottenburg district. The cause of the murder was an “unsuccessful” cocaine deal in which Chechens were implicated.

In the same 2016, in August, Dirk S., a member of the rocker club of Guerilla Nation, was killed. Presumably, Chechen gangsters tried to “squeeze” this club from him. And they succeeded. Already a few months after the murder of Dirk S. Guerilla Nation collapsed.

The reason for a similar publication in Der Spiegel was a post on Facebook. It shows a muscular arm sticking out of a tinted Mercedes with a Kalashnikov assault rifle. The message of the snapshot, according to the publication, is: “Violence is the solution.”

The author of the publication is the martial arts club Regime 95. The group consists of immigrants from Chechnya and operates in the east and north of Germany. The federal criminal department (Bundeskriminalamt, BKA) sees in the organization an example of the proliferation of a criminal structure.

Operation Bristle

The activity of people from the North Caucasus forced the German police to analyze the "most conspicuous" members of the Chechen community. Nine state departments of the criminal investigation, intelligence services, customs, as well as the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) participated in the operation under the code name "stubble". Analyzed the activities of over 200 people.

The results that Der Spiegel reporters got acquainted with are shocking. Of the 200 young people, one third are members of extremist groups and are involved in serious criminal offenses.

Until now, the German police considered the Arab clans as a threat, although at the same time Chechen gangs acted under cover.

On the 44 pages of the BKA report, it describes how Chechen groups took control of entire branches of crime:

They demonstrate an increased willingness to escalate violence and increasingly appear in murder cases.

If earlier Chechens acted as intermediaries in the organization of crimes, today they have found independent sources of enrichment. They are involved in drug trafficking, theft, extortion and collection activities.

Criminals are watching the police

German law enforcement agencies are more frightened not by the fact that Chechen gangs crush other ethnic groups, but their access to secret information is typical of the Italian mafia. This can be done due to the fact that more and more Chechens are taking jobs in private security companies (PSCs). According to the investigation, Chechen organized crime groups often received orders for the protection of police stations. With such a trump card in their hands, the criminals could “watch the actions of the police” at close range, remaining untouchable.

Another feature of these gangs is that their political differences do not prevent them from “keeping together”. Among the Chechen refugees in Austria, Germany and the rest of Europe there are many opponents of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. However, when it comes to illegal activities, political preferences are not a hindrance.

Connection with Islamists

The scale of the problem would be even wider if Chechen groups were associated with Islamists. But this fact is not revealed. Nevertheless, taking into account the potential possibility of such a development of events, the BKA recommends the Ministry of Internal Affairs to interact closely with intelligence services.

Although in an earlier publication of Berliner Kurier (October 11, 2018), BKA investigators expressed confidence that Chechen drug dealers were financing Islamist terrorists: "Nowhere else did the BKA find such close ties with Islamic extremists, as in the case of Chechens."

The exact number of members of the Chechen organized crime groups has not yet been established. Most of them have Russian passports. But an analysis of the German Interior Ministry showed that the Chechen community in the Federal Republic is the largest in Europe. According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, 50,000 people from the North Caucasus live in Germany. Of these, 80% are Chechens.

Violent, networked and isolated: in general, BKA analysts recognize the significant threat posed by Chechen offenders,

- writes Der Spiegel.

They can not be extradited from Germany

The German magazine is concerned that, despite the investigators' attempts to obtain deportation, for the year of the Interior Ministry analysis none of the 200 most dangerous representatives of the Chechen diaspora left Germany. German laws hinder the expulsion of refugees who have long been in the country for family reasons. On the other hand, the influx of migrants from the North Caucasus to Germany, who can replenish the organized criminal group, will only grow.

If we compare the data on the Chechen community in the statistics of the German authorities, its dangerous representatives make up only 0.5% of the total. However, the fact that the Federal Criminal Department took on the Chechen mafia suggests that the Chechen mafia has become the same headache in Germany as the Albanian, and Arab, and Turkish.