German Gambling Taskforce Catch One of Their Own Red-Handed

Unbeknownst to the rest of the gambling community, while we were waiting for Germany’s new State Treaty on Gambling (GlüNeuRStV) to come into force, the government was actively working on an undercover industry clean-up operation.

With GlüNeuRStV coming into power on July 1st the German government executed several raids in June, using a multi-department task force, aimed at removing illegal operators from the newly regulated marketplace. The results of these raids, while effective in shutting down several illegal operations, did also highlight some concerns about local law enforcement.

Too Close To Home

The most notorious of these clean-sweep raids took place in the southwestern German state Saarland, which sits on the borders of both France and Luxembourg. The raid was a massive undertaking encompassing more than four hundred enforcement operatives from the local constabulary, special forces units and even tax investigators.

At the end of the day, however, it was a roaring success with the operation having swept more than forty houses that were found to contain various gambling machines, mobile phones, cash, and other indicators that the group was guilty of running an illegal gambling operation.

Not only were they running an unlicensed gambling business, but the task force found evidence that the machines had been rigged to pay out far less than they were originally programmed to.

The only downside of the operation was the news that of the four criminals detained in connection with the illicit gambling ring one of them was in fact a German police officer.

 No Holds Barred

To show their commitment to enforcing the country’s amended laws regarding online gambling the federal task team launched a slew of similar raids across Germany specifically targeting organised crime syndicates and their leaders.

These “clan” focused raids by German tactical units took place in Berlin as well Duisburg, Leverkusen and Gelsenkirchen in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). The net result was the seizure of cash, electronics, paperwork and gaming machines along with the arrest of several gang members including the so-called “godfather of Berlin”, one Mahmoud Al Zein.

According to a German news source, the raids were part of the globally supported criminal crackdown operation known as Operation Trojan Shield / Greenlight. In total, more than 70 people were arrested across Germany, with sixty of these arrests taking place in Hesse.