“Crime as a service”, the recruitment of minors as “disposable offenders” and drugs as its main area of business: The federal government and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) see a growing threat from organised crime. The number of investigations rose by 5.6 percent last year to 683, according to a situation report published on Tuesday. According to BKA President Holger Münch, states are also using criminal structures to carry out sabotage and espionage on demand.
“Organised crime is a growing threat to our internal security,” Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) said in Berlin while presenting the situation reports on organised crime and drug-related crime. “Criminal gangs are becoming more professional, more brutal and more ruthless.” The BKA said that nearly 8,000 suspects were recorded in connection with organised crime last year. This was the highest figure in the past five years.
BKA President Münch pointed to a profound change in organised crime: “Organised crime is changing its face: Criminal networks today operate in a much more digitally connected, international and division-of-labour-based way.” According to the situation report, 69 percent of investigations had a transnational connection.
“The classic image” of organised crime, which had been characterised by isolation and closed structures, was a thing of the past, Münch said. A “new generation of offenders” was also emerging in Germany, “who openly showcase their power and acts of violence on social media”. This includes the Turkish-origin “Generation Z Mafia”.
It was “particularly insidious” that “minors are increasingly being exploited for crimes”, Dobrindt said at a joint press conference. They were recruited, “used up and discarded” as “disposable offenders”.
Drug-related crime remained the main area of activity for organised crime last year, accounting for around 36.9 percent of investigations. However, the number of drug-related offences fell by 4.6 percent to 122,082. Data on cannabis has already been excluded because of its partial legalisation. The number of drug-related deaths remained high at 2,150. Compared with 2024, this represented an increase of 0.6 percent. The highest figure was recorded in 2023, at 2,227 deaths.
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