In North Rhine-Westphalia, the security authorities are according to a media report against dozens of clans. "We have about 50 clans in NRW - plus minus X," said the criminal director of the State Office of Criminal Investigation (LKA) Thomas Jungbluth the "Rheinische Post".
The number of clan members is therefore in the lower five-digit range. However, according to Jungbluth, the dark field is high, partly because clans sometimes acted with different names and different spellings. So they tried "to get out of the police focus".
Not all clan members are criminal, said the LKA chief investigator. "There are people who have not yet appeared in the police." Nevertheless, her behavior towards police, law enforcement and emergency services is increasingly aggressive.
Contacts to other cities and countries
The clans in North Rhine-Westphalia maintained contacts with other large criminal families in Bremen, Lower Saxony, Berlin and Scandinavia. They are active in legal and illegal business fields. "We find them, for example, in motor trade and rental - there are clans that lend high-quality cars like Lamborghinis," said Jungbluth.
Others operate according to locksmiths with overpriced fees or are active in the red light district. In addition to violent and property offenses, clan members are often involved in drug-related crime.
In recent months, there have been several controls in the region. According to NRW Minister of the Interior Herbert Reul, the fight against clan crime is a priority of the police in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In the video: Lebanese clans in Essen (SPIEGEL TV 2016)
Video
MIRROR TV