Organized Crime Growing Fast in Germany

The number of organized crime investigations, mainly relating to drug trafficking, violent crime, economic crime, and cybercrime, grew from 594 to 696 in 2021, according to a study by the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).

According to the report, at least 7,503 individuals were arrested, up from 6,529 in 2020. 7.5% of the suspects had weapons.

The increase in investigations and subsequent arrests has been directly linked to the authorities’s success in breaking into EncroChat’s secure communications network.

More than 20 million hidden messages were found by police in the Netherlands and France in 2020, which led to the arrest of numerous drug dealers in Germany.

In Germany, organized crime groups are thought to have inflicted economic harm worth an estimated €2.2 billion ($2.2 billion) last year. The amount from the prior year was around €837 million.

The BKA claims that the high rise in fraud offenses last year is evidence of how rapidly some criminal groups take advantage of new chances to conduct crimes.

In 2021, compared to the year before, the number of organized crime cases that were connected to the coronavirus epidemic tripled.

This surge was mostly brought on by the federal government’s unauthorized request for the use of coronavirus emergency help.

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