Police raid network linked to Hells Angels in four European countries

More than 1,000 police officers launched raids across Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria and the Netherlands early on Wednesday targeting an international money-laundering network linked to members of the Hells Angels biker gang.

Sources told dpa that 14 arrest warrants have been executed, with authorities seeking to seize assets worth €48.6 million ($55.1 million).

A spokeswoman for Duisburg police said the operation was targeting an international network of money launderers as well as a criminal organization, which dpa understands to be the Hells Angels.

More than 100 properties are being searched, and 71 people are under investigation, according to police.

Authorities said the suspects included people responsible for a money-laundering network operating across Germany and Europe, as well as senior members of a biker gang.

They are suspected of offences including forming a criminal organization, extortion, organized fraud and money laundering. The investigation also involves alleged weapons offences, assault and tax evasion.

Officials implicated

The investigation has also placed a police officer and two municipal employees from the western city of Duisburg under scrutiny. They are being investigated on suspicion of passing on information obtained in the course of their official duties to third parties, according to the Duisburg public prosecutor's office.

"We can confirm that in the course of the investigations, sufficient factual indications have emerged that a police officer and two municipal employees passed on information obtained in the course of their official duties to third parties," a prosecution spokesman told dpa.

A further municipal employee is being investigated on suspicion of corruption "on the basis of accepting cash payments in exchange for granting advantages," he said.

Coordinated raids

A dpa reporter witnessed a major police operation involving special forces at the address of an influential Hells Angels member in Duisburg on Wednesday morning.

Police said most of the searches were taking place in North Rhine-Westphalia, while six properties were being searched in other German states. Seven properties were also being searched in Belgium, Bulgaria and the Netherlands.

The operation is being led by prosecutors in Duisburg, with North Rhine-Westphalia's financial crime authority also involved.

According to the German mass circulation Bild newspaper, the investigation has been under way for more than four years and was triggered by a shooting in Duisburg in May 2022. More than 100 people were involved in a clash between bikers and members of a Turkish-Lebanese extended family.