The investigative authorities are searching buildings in three federal states.
There are ten arrests.
Frankfurt - On Wednesday morning (October 6th, 2021) there were raids in numerous German cities.
The police, tax investigators and the public prosecutor's office searched more than 80 homes, offices and shops.
Ten people were arrested, according to a statement.
The investigative authorities mainly concentrated on the federal states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bremen.
A total of more than 1000 employees of the authorities were on duty.
The raids are based on allegations of money laundering and organized crime.
The focus is on members of an international money laundering network.
This is an organization called "Hawala".
Money laundering: major raid in Germany against the “hawala” network
The “hawala” system works as follows: For a commission, customers of the organization can transfer large sums of money abroad with the help of the network.
However, such transactions are subject to banking supervision in Germany.
Their consent is necessary for this, otherwise it is illegal banking activities.
The WDR reports that the investigative authorities came across the network by chance: Police officers recently discovered around 300,000 euros in cash, hidden in a gym bag, during a routine check on the motorway.
On Wednesday afternoon, the investigative authorities want to comment on further details of the large-scale raid.
(do with dpa / AFP)