Mahmoud Al Zein, the "godfather" or, for investigators, also "the fat one"
Photo: SPIEGEL TV
What immediately stands out are the inconspicuous civil investigators.
There are also two patrol cars at BER, although so few planes take off and land.
There is also a camera team from SPIEGEL TV.
Everyone is waiting for "El Presidente, the godfather of Berlin".
At exactly 12:00 noon several heavy SUVs and a few smaller cars approach.
The doors jump open, around 30 people with black hair get out.
Only men.
One of them is wearing a black parka, jeans and black sneakers: it's Mahmoud Al Zein.
His story is exemplary of the mishaps in the fight against clan crime in Germany.
Al Zein, a sturdy fellow with a carefully trimmed mustache and black hair pulled back, is, if you will, the forefather of all Arab clans in Berlin.
The asylum application is rejected
He also appears in police and court records as Habib Haik.
Or as »Mohaiddine or Moheiddine Al Zein.
Sometimes the family is not called Al Zein, but El Zein.
Or being Al ".
When he left, he used his real name: Mahmut Uca.
It is always the same person: according to their own statements, allegedly born in 1966 in the Lebanese capital Beirut, the third of a total of 16 children.
In 1982 the family came to West Berlin via Schönefeld Airport in East Berlin, which is not far from today's BER.
The family applies for asylum in Germany.
Two years later, the asylum application is rejected.
Mahmoud Al Zein is still not deported.
Valid documents for a passport are missing.
display
Title: The Power of the Clans: Large Arab Families and Their Criminal Empires - A SPIEGEL Book
Publisher: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt
Number of pages: 352
Author: Heise, Thomas, Meyer-Heuer, Claas
Buy for € 20.00
Price query time
01/29/2021 5:55 p.m.
No guarantee
Icon: Info
Order at AmazonIcon: amazon
Order from ThaliaIcon: thalia
Product reviews are purely editorial and independent.
Via the so-called affiliate links above, we usually receive a commission from the dealer when making a purchase.
More information here
Over the next few years, "The Fat Man," as he is called by investigators, will fight his way to the top of the city's nightlife.
The first criminal offenses in the country he asked for admission were committed shortly after his arrival.
Record: Theft, collective theft, dangerous bodily harm and robbery.
When his asylum application is denied, the authorities tell him to leave the country.
Unsuccessful, of course.
In July 1988, Al Zein is expelled.
Quotation from official documents: »Due to their illegal behavior, monitoring of their departure is necessary for reasons of public safety.
You have no opportunity to leave voluntarily. "
Mahmoud is locked in the juvenile detention center and the authorities are issuing a new valid passport.
After serving his sentence, he is immediately taken into deportation custody so that he does not go into hiding again.
There he files a follow-up application for asylum.
Before that is decided, he will be released from deportation detention.
Four weeks later the asylum application was rejected.
"I know, how it works"
According to police records, the authorities now want to get really serious and put him on a plane immediately.
But again everything is free.
In Mahmoud's place, a brother reports to the immigration authorities.
Mahmoud Al Zein married himself, eventually had nine children and made a name for himself above all in the red light district.
Over the years he has received 21 tolerations.
In an interview with SPIEGEL TV that was clicked millions of times on YouTube, Mahmoud Al Zein drove through Berlin in the mid-1990s.
"Through my city," as he makes clear at the beginning.
Does he see himself as Berlin's king of the underworld?
Al Zein doesn't have to think twice about this question.
"Right," he says.
"I know, how it works."
And what about the arguments in the milieu?
Does he have to be afraid of anyone?
more on the subject
The self-proclaimed "Godfather of Berlin": "We broke him down" By Volker Weidermann
Icon: Spiegel Plus Large criminal families against the state: This is how the clans rule in Germany
Icon: VideoSPIEGEL TV on the power of the clans: "We are not interested in the Basic Law" A film by Thomas Heise and Claas Meyer-Heuer
Icon: VideoDoku about Arab clans: intensive offenders among themselves
"I'm not afraid of anyone," he replies.
"What should I be afraid of?"
Maybe in front of other families?
"I'm only afraid of my God, but of no one else."
At that time, a special police unit was investigating Al Zein: the "GE Ident".
Their goal is to research the real identities of rejected asylum seekers.
A first decisive indication of his origin emerged on September 25, 2000 from a letter from the Lebanese Ministry of the Interior: »After inspecting the Lebanese registers at the General Directorate of the registry office, it was determined that the aforementioned Muhiedinne Hamdin Al-Zein, born in 1966, did not Has entries and he is without nationality.
It is noticed that he was living in Beirut-Lebanon. "
The investigators find a clue about the son
So the "President" is not a Lebanese at all.
Research in Turkey shows that he comes from the southern Anatolian province of Mardin.
In addition, GE Ident learns that his father - who is also in Germany as a welfare recipient with an allegedly unclear nationality - is actually registered as a Turkish citizen in Üçkavak near Savur.
The investigators also find a reference to his son: Mahmoud Al Zein is also registered in Turkey, albeit under a different name.
According to Turkish law, it is irrelevant for citizenship whether he was born in Turkey.
The Turkish parents and the entry in a register of residents are decisive.
There Mahmoud Al Zein is noted under the name Mahmut Uca.
The responsible investigator notes: "Turkey confirmed the excerpt from the register in 2002, but still did not issue a passport." Reason: Mahmoud Al-Zein had not started his military service in Turkey and was simply expatriated afterwards.
This means that the German authorities still lack a country to which they can deport Mahmoud Al Zein.
The family doesn't want to say anything
Now the turning point in the spectacular case: According to research by SPIEGEL TV, Al Zein has probably become naturalized again in Turkey.
In the summer of last year he had sued the administrative court for a further tolerance.
Allegedly he doesn't have a passport.
Senate circles say that Al Zein wanted to go to the Federal Constitutional Court, but a constitutional complaint was not accepted.
Al Zein left voluntarily in order to bypass an entry ban in case he was deported.
The family did not want to say anything about the process when asked several times.
Al Zein's journey continues via Istanbul to Adana.
In the Turkish city, 16 degrees beckon from Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Interior Senator Andreas Geisel is happy in Berlin and speaks of a »milestone« and a »signal effect«.
"It's only one person, but it's a special person," says the SPD politician.
"It shows our determination."
Icon: The mirror
