Armenian Mafia in Germany

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Armenian Mafia in Germany are rather small Armenian groups in Germany who, according to media reports, are classified as organized crime by German authorities and have built up a Germany-wide network.

history

Federico Varese, criminologist at Oxford University in the UK, sees its roots in the prison structure of the Russian empire in the 18th century. After the fall of the USSR , many criminals were released from the prison camps where they met and networked. They founded a kind of secret society, so-called " thieves in the law ". One of the rituals of thieves is to tattoo oneself what rank one occupies in the secret society. According to a report by the German Federal Criminal Police Office , “Thieves in the Law” also controls the Armenian Mafia structures in Germany.

Investigations

In 2009 and 2011 the Federal Criminal Police Office started investigations against the Armenian Mafia in Germany. At that time there was suspicion of drug trafficking , but this has not yet been proven. In the meantime, the Federal Criminal Police Office had established that there are at least two Armenian clans in Erfurt who are at war with one another. On July 13, 2014, there was a shooting in Erfurt. Two men were seriously injured when two clans got into an argument in front of a toy library. In June 2016 there was another dispute in Erfurt. It was a dispute between Armenian and Moldovan clan members.

In November 2018, Thuringia's state criminal investigation office and state police confiscated 35 kilograms of marijuana. According to the Thuringia State Criminal Police Office, the three suspects are one German and two Armenians.

Cooperation with 'Ndrangheta

According to research by Spiegel and the MDR, the Armenian Mafia in Germany is cooperating with the Italian Mafia 'Ndrangheta , particularly in the area of ​​placing counterfeit money on the market.

FATIL project

The shooting in Erfurt revealed the conspiratorial Armenian mafia group to the public. Shortly afterwards, the Federal Criminal Police Office founded the “FATIL” project ( Fight against thieves in law ) with the six state criminal police offices and investigated the Armenian Mafia for three years. The Federal Intelligence Service and Europol were involved in FATIL . The “yield” of the investigations was, however, “sobering”. 14 proceedings were initiated, which, however, had to be discontinued due to insufficient evidence despite "a number of indications". As the FATIL final report from the Federal Criminal Police Office and six state criminal police offices shows, an Armenian mafia “actually” exists in Germany, it has “considerable financial resources” and “could be a threat to the rule of law”. FATIL ended in summer 2018. The final document of the project states that criminal authorities and thieves seem to reside and be networked in the law across Europe.

Manipulation of sports betting

In December 2018, the first broadcast the documentary "Wettmafia Files - Germany and Organized Football Crime", which reveals how the Armenian mafia uses targeted manipulation of sports betting (including football , tennis , handball and basketball ). In a list submitted by a secret informant to the ARD, 28 won bets are documented within three days, on which members of the Armenian Mafia bet. According to the informant, there is a broad and well-organized network of Armenian betting syndicates across Germany, headed by the “godparents”. These would commission the so-called "fixers" to bribe the athletes, officials and referees . The winning bets would ultimately be placed by anonymous "runners". According to estimates, the weekly winnings of the Armenian Mafia from manipulated sports betting would amount to six figures.

Criticism of reporting

The broadcaster Radio Dreyeckland examined the reporting and investigation results of the authorities on the “Armenian Mafia” and asked the Federal Criminal Police Office about this. A discrepancy was found between the charge and "the nonexistent charges". The station came to the conclusion that the "sensational reports" have a "rather thin basis". In the federal situation report on organized crime among suspects by nationality, Armenia is not listed, but is included in a subgroup on Russian-Eurasian organized crime. The broadcaster found that the statistics for 2016 and 2017 listed three suspects each in "allegedly Armenian-dominated groups", but it was not clear whether the suspects were actually Armenians.

Armenian organizations speak of “stigmatization and tendentious reports” and criticize the discrepancy between the language chosen for reporting and the “facts and findings of the investigators”. In a press release, the Central Council of Armenians in Germany condemned all forms of crime and welcomed the "full criminal prosecution of the perpetrators". However, the ZAD criticizes the reporting as “not enlightening”, “discrediting” and “false”, in which “a single event from 2014 (...) is used in a generalized manner against the Armenian community and its related institutions.” The The German-Armenian Society also endorsed investigations and reports on organized crime “regardless of the ethnic origin of those involved”, but accused the MDR and SPIEGEL of “miserable” research.

During a video report on the “Armenian Mafia”, the news magazine Focus showed scenes from the funeral of the Arab clan member Nidal R., who was known to the police, without pointing out where these well-known scenes in Berlin actually came from. Focus was accused of working with stereotypes in reporting and that they wanted to suggest to the viewer that the Arab clan members were an “Armenian clan”, “but neither in this size nor in this appearance exists in Germany. ”After public criticism, the Focus changed its contribution.

The German government does not use the term “Armenian Mafia” either, but regards the organized crime structures of Armenian nationals as part of Russian-Eurasian organized crime.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Spiegel Online: Mafia: How the Armenian Mafia works in Germany. Retrieved November 27, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c Federal Criminal Police Office: Investigators fear "endangering the rule of law" by the Armenian Mafia . In: Spiegel Online . November 2, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed November 27, 2018]).
  3. ^ A b mdr.de: Armenian Mafia in Thuringia: State Criminal Police Office reveals drug trafficking | MDR.DE . ( mdr.de [accessed on November 27, 2018]).
  4. ↑ FOCUS Online: Violent excesses in Thuringia: TV report shows machinations of brutal Mafia clans . In: Focus Online . ( focus.de [accessed on November 27, 2018]).
  5. ↑ Maik Baumgärtner, Axel Hemmerling, Ludwig Kendzia, Martin Knobbe: Organized crime in Germany: Mafia meets Mafia . In: Spiegel Online . November 7, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed November 27, 2018]).
  6. ^ Süddeutsche de GmbH, Munich Germany: State criminal investigation office confiscates 35 kilograms of marijuana - Panorama-News. Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 21, 2018, accessed on August 19, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Maik Baumgärtner, Axel Hemmerling, Ludwig Kendzia, Martin Knobbe: Organized crime in Germany: Mafia meets Mafia . In: Spiegel Online . November 7, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed November 28, 2018]).
  8. ^ Benjamin Best: ARD Documentation "Wettmafia files - Germany and organized football crime". December 19, 2018, accessed on January 11, 2019 (German).
  9. ↑ Shrill headlines about a phantom, the story of the Armenian Mafia. Radio Dreyeckland , November 15, 2018, accessed on June 27, 2020 (German).
  10. ↑ Armenian Mafia? Radio Dreyeckland did some research. Haypress, November 15, 2018, accessed on June 27, 2020 (German).
  11. ^ ZAD: Armenian mafia reports not enlightening, but discrediting. Haypress, November 11, 2018, accessed on June 27, 2020 (German).
  12. ↑ Trouble with "Mafia" reports. Allgemeine Zeitung , November 15, 2018, accessed on June 27, 2020 (German).
  13. ↑ Miserably researched. German-Armenian Society , December 1, 2018, accessed on June 27, 2020 (German).
  14. ↑ FOCUS presents Arab clans as "Armenian Mafia". Haypress, November 8, 2018, accessed June 27, 2020 (German).
  15. ↑ Criticism has an impact: FOCUS changes its contribution to the “Armenian Mafia”. Haypress, November 9, 2018, accessed June 27, 2020 (German).
  16. ↑ Printed matter 19/6349. German Bundestag , accessed on June 27, 2020 (German).