Trial of cocaine gang: defendants are silent

Thanks to tips from France, German investigators caught many suspects from the drug scene.

Four men are now on trial in Neubrandenburg.

Neubrandenburg - The four defendants are silent in the trial of drug trafficking at the regional court in Neubrandenburg.

As their lawyers said on Friday, the three men from the Mecklenburg Lake District and one from Schwerin will initially not provide any information about the alleged drug deals.

Prosecutor Bernd Bethke had presented the indictment after several attempts since the start of the trial on Friday.

In it, he accused the 59-year-old main defendant and his 39-year-old friend from Stavenhagen of having obtained and traded large amounts of cocaine and other drugs from the Netherlands in 2020. According to the indictment, it is a total of around 7.7 kilograms of cocaine. The 59-year-old from Schwerin and a fourth defendant are said to have been the drivers on tours with specially prepared cars to Holland. The case is related to a sensational data interception by French investigators, the so-called Encrochat data. (Ref .: 23 KLs 7/21).

The group is said to have used crypto cell phones.

Communication ran via a server in France and was considered bug-proof.

Investigators have been listening since the system was cracked.

The group is accused of a total of eleven cases.

The men had been monitored since April 2020 and arrested by the State Criminal Police Office in November 2020.

The operation took place during a planned handover of cocaine in Stavenhagen, and further searches followed.

Two kilograms of cocaine were found in the car hiding place, which is likely to have a six-figure value on the drug market.

The Encrochat data had been obtained by French authorities.

Based on these data, which were also sent to authorities in Germany, more than 1,800 suspected drug traffickers and other suspects have so far been exposed in the EU.

The defense lawyers in Neubrandenburg criticized the fact that the "mass tapping of data" is not allowed in Germany.

In addition, the documents do not reveal any specific involvement in the offense.

It is only a question of fragments and interpretations by police officers from the decrypted data.

A real defense is not possible.

Other drugs and manslaughters had been found on the main defendant.

The trial is scheduled to continue on November 25th.

A quick end is not to be expected, said defender Frank Zindler, who is in charge of a similar case in Berlin.

It could be that you will be negotiating here for months or years.

dpa