German and Dutch agencies target gold network
Three suspects were arrested and around forty locations searched in an international operation.
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German and Dutch law enforcement agencies targeted a suspected international money-laundering network on Wednesday. Three suspects were arrested, gold and cash were seized, and locations in Germany and the Netherlands were searched during the operation.
According to German police, around 450 investigators, customs officers and other law-enforcement personnel took part in the operation. Raids were carried out at dozens of locations in Germany; in the Netherlands, searches took place in the Rotterdam region and in Friesland. Europol supported the cooperation.
The suspects are accused of laundering criminal money through gold transactions. According to the German and Dutch authorities, the group allegedly accepted money from various clients and concealed it through purchases from jewellers, gold shipments and international payments.
The investigation began at the end of 2023, when traffic officers in Bavaria stopped a car. According to investigators, they found 55 kilograms of gold and almost half a million euros in cash inside. In February this year, more than five kilograms of gold jewellery were found during another search in Cologne.
German prosecutors suspect that the group moved between 100 and 400 kilograms of gold over a six-year period. According to investigators, its estimated value was between €55 million and more than €200 million. This is an estimate; it has not been established that all the gold came from criminal activity.
According to the authorities, the group was allegedly involved in so-called services for other criminals. Drug criminals could hand over their proceeds, after which they were processed through gold and international money flows. Some of the gold was allegedly melted down into bars and taken to Turkey. These allegations still have to be proved in the criminal investigation.
According to Europol, the operation underlines how financial crime operates across borders. Rotterdam plays a role in the investigation because, according to the authorities, an underground banker is believed to have been active there. The three arrested people remain suspects; decisions on prosecution and any confiscation of goods will be taken later.
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The factual description of the operation is based on a joint police statement and an ANP report. Preliminary suspicions have consistently been attributed as suspicions and not presented as proven facts.
- confirmed Around 450 law-enforcement personnel took part in the operation. — This is stated in the joint statement by the German and Dutch authorities. source
- confirmed Three suspects were arrested and around forty locations were searched. — The police statement reports three arrests and around forty searches. source
- confirmed The investigation began after 55 kilograms of gold and almost half a million euros were found in a car. — ANP describes this discovery as the starting point of the investigation. source
Editor's note
The raids, arrests and seized goods were confirmed by the joint police statement. The scale of the suspected gold shipments, the origin of the money and the role of individual suspects are preliminary assessments by prosecutors.Sources
- Verdacht der Geldwäsche und Goldschmuggel — Großangelegte bundesweite und internationale Durchsuchungsmaßnahmen — Polizei Köln, Staatsanwaltschaft Köln en Nederlandse partners
- Duitse bende goudsmokkelaars opgerold, doorzoekingen in Nederland — ANP via Welingelichte Kringen
- Criminal finances and money laundering — Europol
More on this in Dutch media
- Het Parool — „goudsmokkel witwassen”
- Trouw — „goudsmokkel witwassen”
- NRC — „goudsmokkel witwassen”