More than 1,000 officers searched more than 100 apartments, business premises, and government offices on Wednesday. Arranging a residence permit in individual cases cost up to 360,000 euros.
The target is 38 suspected gang members and 147 people who are said to have been trafficked. The main suspects are two 42 and 46 year old lawyers from the Cologne area. The accusation is of gang and commercial smuggling of foreigners as well as bribery and corruption of employees of local authorities. Commercial smuggling carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years. One of the supposed apartments was also an elite boarding school. One person is still being searched for. Six accused have already been brought before the judge. According to the Düren district, among them is an employee of the local district administration. There were also arrest warrants against lawyers and employees of their law firms. You could be in your countries of origin but also have a permanent residence in Germany. The origin of the investigation was a tip from the German consulate in Canton in China as well as numerous reports of suspected money laundering by banks. Banknote detection dogs were also used. NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) said: "This is a good and important success in the investigation against a gang that wants to fill its pockets with residence permits." In the fight against smuggling gangs, "this high level of investigative pressure and this consistent crackdown" are needed, he said. In 2022, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Police registered 4,936 cases. The investigation was started in 2020, but some of the crimes occurred in 2016/2017. The immigration offices concerned are also the subject of the investigation.