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Germany, high level of threat from organized crime

2025-10-29 08:21:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Drug smuggling, money laundering, cybercrime: the scale of organized crime in Germany, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), remains at high levels.

The threat from organized crime in Germany is quite high. This conclusion is reached in the report on the situation in 2024, when a total of 647 processes were investigated due to organized crime. The figure compared to 2023 remains almost constant. However, this is the second highest figure in ten years. According to the BKA, drug crime was most often identified - with around 260 processes, this is the sector with the largest share of criminal offenses within the framework of organized crime.

This is followed by economic crime cases with around 110 processes, fiscal and customs crimes with around 60 processes. Similarly, there have been many processes for human smuggling and property crimes. A significantly lower quota of four percent of all processes has been investigations against cybercrime groups.

The damage caused in this category is massive: According to the BKA report on the crime situation in Germany, the value of the damage caused in the field of cybercrime is around 1.7 billion euros: This amount constitutes half of the financial damage caused by organized crime in general. The BKA estimates the total financial damage in 2024 at around 2.64 billion euros.

Recruitment of minors for criminal offenses

The BKA speaks in its annual report of a situation with "a constant high threat potential" from organized crime. What stands out is the increased willingness to use violence in public spaces. In this context, in 2024, around 280 criminal offenses for the use of violence were registered. A significant increase in the possession of weapons is also noted. Around 420 weapons were seized last year as part of investigations.

The Federal Police is concerned that criminal groups are increasingly offering criminal activities in the form of a service, known as "crime as a service", for example in the money laundering sector. Criminals are increasingly trying to recruit minors to commit criminal acts. According to the BKA, they use social networks or online gaming platforms for this purpose.

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the CSU described organized crime as one of the biggest threats to the rule of law. "They operate brutally and unscrupulously, all over the world - from drug smuggling to money laundering and influencing decision-makers," said the Christian Social politician, adding: "These criminal networks must be deprived of their basis for existence, thereby cutting off their sources of money. Anyone within these structures who cannot explain where their wealth comes from must lose it. This is a paradigm shift."/ DW