After the end of the first 24-hour day of action in the fight against clan crime in the Ruhr region and the Rhineland, the police and their network and cooperation partners are taking stock. During the "marathon" (March 12/13), a total of 159 properties were checked, including car recyclers, barbershops, restaurants, shisha bars, betting shops and gambling halls. During various traffic checks to combat the speeding and posing scene, the authorities checked 2,284 vehicles across the country and nine were seized. A total of 18 arrest warrants were executed, 27 people were provisionally arrested and more than 140 criminal charges were filed. In addition, around 800 reports were written for administrative offenses and more than 850 warnings were issued. The officers also seized more than 100,000 euros in cash, 35 illegal gambling devices, four knives and around 60 kilograms of untaxed tobacco during the day of action. The authorities immediately closed 12 of the establishments inspected for reasons of commercial law and to avert danger. "In these 24 hours, we scrutinized many, and in some cases new, fields of activity of the criminal clans. There are obviously no limits to the creativity of these machinations - to get hold of the money of mostly innocent people," commented NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul on the operation. He was personally present at one of the first operations of the day of action in Essen early on Saturday morning to get an idea of the situation. He then accompanied the forces on several other missions into the night.
In addition to the police, municipal law enforcement agencies, tax investigation departments, environmental agencies and family funds were also involved in the nationwide raids. The Ruhr Security Cooperation (SiKo) with its principle of "joined desks" also played a key role in the preparations. In this context, Reul emphasized the importance of collaboration with the network and cooperation partners: "20 partner organizations and institutions took part in our day of action yesterday and supported the North Rhine-Westphalian police, including the Dutch police. I am very grateful for this, because it shows: We are running this marathon together - that is our key to success."
Around 1,500 police officers were involved in the concerted action from Saturday to Sunday morning. In addition, there were more than 300 employees from customs, the federal police, the Düsseldorf district government, tax offices, tax investigation offices, immigration offices, health offices, municipal public order services, fire departments, building and building regulation offices, environmental offices, green space offices, trade inspectorates and trade offices, food inspectors, traffic monitoring services, city treasuries, family treasuries, enforcement offices, district craftsmen's associations and traffic route control units.
"I am sure that this 24-hour marathon in the criminal clan milieu will have symbolic power far beyond today. We are making it clear that we will keep at it," summarized Interior Minister Reul. From Saturday to Sunday morning, more than 3,700 identities were established in the areas of responsibility of a total of 12 district police authorities: Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Kleve, Krefeld, Mettmann, Oberhausen, Recklinghausen, Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, Wesel. The authorities will each publish their own balance sheets.