Overview
- Investigators searched two business premises and two homes on Wednesday in Tempelhof-Schöneberg and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.
- Police secured more than 8,000 reusable deposit crates, roughly €950,000 in cash, and numerous data carriers and phones now under forensic review.
- Two brothers, aged 51 and 56, are suspected of commercially handling stolen crates in a scheme under investigation by police and prosecutors.
- Authorities estimate the men bought and resold around 300,000 crates, with potential losses of about €841,000 based on per-crate deposits.
- The crates are used in the produce supply chain with deposits typically ranging from €3.50 to €3.86, and the investigation remains ongoing.