Major weapons-smuggling operation in Berlin: nine arrests
Berlin police search 28 premises and arrest nine suspects. Focus is on a Turkish group allegedly smuggling illegal firearms and carrying out extortion.
Police operation against illegal firearms trafficking
Berlin police conducted a major raid against organised crime on Wednesday. According to welt.de, 570 officers searched 28 residential and commercial premises in Neukölln, Kreuzberg and other districts. Nine men aged between 23 and 63 were arrested. The operation was heavily armed: specialist units including the GSG 9 federal police force were involved.
At the centre of investigations is a Turkish group classified as extremely dangerous. The suspects are alleged to have not only smuggled illegal firearms into the city but also extorted numerous business owners. The Berlin state prosecutor's office stated: "It is assumed that the group is responsible for a large number of extortion cases involving gunfire in recent times." The suspects are being investigated for organised crime pursued as a gang.
During the searches, narcotics, cash, one firearm, firearm parts, two vehicles as well as data storage devices and mobile phones were seized. Blank-firing weapons were also confiscated.
The raid is part of a response to escalating firearms violence in the capital. For more than a year, shootings have become increasingly frequent on Berlin's streets. The trail leads to Turkey: many of the weapons seized in Berlin originate from there and are produced in illegal factories as replicas of well-known models – for example, variants resembling the Austrian manufacturer Glock. The weapons are dismantled, the individual parts smuggled overland to Germany and reassembled there.
The Turkish secret service MIT has identified over 500 illegal firearms and more than 20,000 pistol parts since the end of 2025. Around 400 suspects are being investigated, with roughly 150 in pre-trial detention. Investigating authorities shut down an illegal weapons factory near Şanlıurfa in south-eastern Turkey; production there was in the low five-figure range. According to Turkish security authorities, medium five-figure quantities of such weapons could already have reached Central Europe.
Berlin is responding with new structures: the State Criminal Police Office established the specialist unit "Ferrum" in November 2025, and the state prosecutor's office created the investigation team "Telum". Both are focused on weapons structures and their organisers. Police registered a total of 1,119 firearms offences in 2025 – in 2024 there were still 666 cases.
Stephan Weh, head of the Berlin police union, stated the operation had been prepared with "enormous presence and outstanding investigative work". The aim was to curb the "wave of firearms confrontations". The union also pointed to deficiencies in technical investigation powers, such as communication surveillance and evaluation of digital data.
Source: Die Zeit Kriminalität