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Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - In a case of suspected criminal bus drivers, investigators arrested two men (50/45) who are considered masterminds.
The 50-year-old from Kaarst is said to have instigated bus drivers to steal blank tickets, the 45-year-old from Duisburg is said to have printed them.
The tokens for monthly tickets were then sold at several major train stations in North Rhine-Westphalia via a "seller network", as reported by the federal police and public prosecutor in Düsseldorf on Thursday.
The two alleged masterminds should be brought before a judge.
According to the information, the case had been investigated for some time, and apartments had already been searched by bus drivers in November.
On Wednesday, apartments were searched again in several NRW cities - in Düsseldorf, Kaarst, Neuss, Tönisvorst, Duisburg, Dortmund and Cologne.
In total, there are 15 suspects who are accused of commercial theft, stolen goods, forgery and fraud in more than 100 cases.
The tokens were for the so-called Ticket2000, which is a monthly ticket for the Rhein-Ruhr transport association (VRR).
The monthly stamps had a value of 120 and 200 euros, according to the investigators.
Several blank tokens, data carriers and cell phones were found during the searches.
"The blank tokens were already packaged according to number and price level for known buyers," it said.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210128-99-206963 / 2
Notification of the investigators with photos