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It is about violent money collection, fraud, drug trafficking - and allegations of the formation of a criminal organization.

Three men were arrested in the major raid by the Berlin criminal police on Thursday.

Two of them belong to a well-known large Berlin family of Arab origin.

According to reports in the “Bild” newspaper and the Berlin “Tagesspiegel” newspaper, it is the Abou Chaker clan.

All three men are in custody, said the prosecutor's spokesman, Martin Steltner.

In addition, 100,000 euros were confiscated.

Around 500 police officers - including the GSG 9, the special task force of the Federal Police, as well as Berlin SEK teams - searched 33 apartments and other rooms in Berlin, Brandenburg and Hamburg on Thursday morning.

A total of 36 suspects of various nationalities are being investigated.

Some belong to the rock band Hells Angels and their environment, others are members of the clan, according to the prosecutor.

The investigation has been going on for a year.

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The allegations: The three arrested men are said to have cheated an elderly couple out of a property worth more than three million euros.

For this purpose a company is said to have been founded and powers of attorney forged.

Other suspects are said to have traded drugs.

Apparently not all debts were paid.

A "mediator for the underworld" is said to have mediated and also cashed between the competitors.

The alleged mediator is not in custody.

Spokesman Steltner said there are various interdependencies, "everything is related to everything".

The public prosecutor's office was determined on Twitter: "We are fighting against parallel justice and organized crime."

It's getting more uncomfortable for Berlin clans

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The allegation of the formation of a criminal association is rather new in connection with the crackdown on criminal clan members.

Section 129 of the Criminal Code defines a criminal organization as an association of more than two people in pursuit of an overriding common interest.

It has become less comfortable in Berlin for many criminal clan members who have been able to go about their business almost unmolested for years.

The red-red-green Senate has been calling on the criminals to intensify the fight for several years.

Sums of millions have been temporarily confiscated in recent years.

So far, the public prosecutor and the police are most proud of their coup in the summer of 2018, when 77 houses, apartments and land belonging to an extended family worth nine million euros were seized.

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At the end of September, there was a major raid on other clan members on suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering of manager fees in the rapper scene.

Here too, assets worth several million euros were confiscated.

In November, the police arrested three suspects from a clan in connection with a spectacular jewel theft in Dresden.

Two other alleged perpetrators have escaped, are still on the run or are already hiding abroad.

The Berlin Police Union (GdP) emphasized that the structures are different from those of the Mafia - “but in both cases it is criminal organizations that need to be paralyzed”.

And you can also hear from the Berlin security authorities: Respect is returning.