BKA: Organized crime is a billion dollar business

“We mustn’t underestimate the danger posed by organized crime,” says Holger Münch when he presented the balance sheet for 2021 in Berlin. The President of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) could also have said: “The danger is greater than ever.” Because the amount of damage determined by his authority has more than doubled in one year: from 837 million to a good 2.2 billion euros.

Almost 700 preliminary investigations

At the same time, the BKA reports a new record in the investigations: the number has increased from 594 to 696 within a year. An increase from which Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser can also see a positive side: “The pressure on organized crime in Germany is higher than ever before.” This is especially true for the drug scene. Almost every second investigation has to do with trafficking and smuggling of drugs.

A typical feature of organized crime, known as “OK” for short, remains international networking, emphasizes BKA boss Holger Münch: In 2021, almost 500 investigations “with connections abroad” were reported. With cracked messages from encrypted messenger services, a “better insight into the structures of the OC” was gained.

Abandoned plantations and drug labs

The information obtained in this way could have averted numerous dangers to life and limb, “from dangerous bodily harm to kidnapping to planned killing”. Among the successes in the fight against the international drug trade, Holger Münch counts intercepted drug transports and shut down plantations and laboratories.

Drug trafficking is a major source of income for OC groups, says the BKA president. This would often finance other crimes. That’s why you have to start at this point “to combat money laundering”. According to his ideas, Europol, the police authority of the European Union (EU) based in The Hague in the Netherlands, should play a central role in this.

BKA President: “We are on the right track”

Holger Münch would like more support from some EU members, for example when it comes to shared databases. He keeps to himself which countries are meant by that. Overall, however, the BKA boss assesses the international cooperation positively: “We are on the right track.”