On Monday the Federal Attorney’s Office had five individuals detained on allegations of Russian embargo violations. The arrests were carried out under arrest warrants issued by the investigating judge of the Federal Court (Bundesgerichtshof). Customs Crime Unit officers took into custody a German‑Ukrainian, a German‑Russian, and two German nationals. An additional suspect, also a German‑Russian, was provisionally detained. The arrests took place in Lübeck and in the district of Herzogtum Lauenburg.
Concurrently, searches began in those areas as well as in Frankfurt am Main, the district of Nordwestmecklenburg, Nuremberg, and the district of Ostholstein. The same proceedings now target five further suspects who are currently at large.
Officials say the detained individuals are highly suspicious of being members of a criminal organization that has, in a commercial and gang‑like manner, violated the Foreign Trade Act. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, they are alleged to have clandestinely sourced goods for Russian industry and exported them to Russia.
Preliminary investigations estimate that the suspects arranged roughly 16,000 shipments to Russia, with a total value of at least 30 million euros. An asset freeze of that amount has been ordered. The detained suspects are scheduled to be presented to the investigating judge of the Federal Court on Tuesday, who will decide on the detention orders.
