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Berlin Units Detain 29 Suspects in Wave of Intimidation Shootings

A joint prosecutor-led task force says the arrests and seizures are meant to break protection-racket networks that used shootings to extort businesses.

Overview

  • As of May 27 prosecutors were handling 126 related cases and 29 suspects were in pre-trial detention, officials said.
  • The prosecutor's investigative group Telum, formed in late February, is working closely with the LKA special unit Ferrum, created in November 2025, to target organized criminal networks.
  • A major mid-May operation involving about 570 officers led to nine arrests and seizures of drugs, cash, a firearm, firearm parts, two cars and electronic devices.
  • One trial has already begun in the Landgericht Berlin where four men aged 21–26 face charges including dangerous bodily harm and attempted aggravated extortion for using shootings as intimidation.
  • Justice Senator Felor Badenberg says authorities will keep coordinating arrests, seizures and prosecutions to permanently dismantle the protection-racket model that has targeted mainly Turkish-Kurdish businesses.