Berlin: Five men arrested after drug find in Spandau

A ton of marijuana is seized in the Port of Hamburg. The recipient is located in Spandau. Investigators arrest five men during the delivery.

Five men aged between 36 and 69 are in custody. They are suspected of smuggling around one ton of marijuana into Germany – disguised in a shipment of coconuts.

During a customs inspection of shipping containers in the Port of Hamburg, suspicious packages were discovered within a shipment of coconuts. On behalf of the Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office, the shipment was subsequently escorted to Berlin by special police units. On Monday at 1:45 p.m., officers from the Joint Narcotics Investigation Group of the Berlin-Brandenburg Customs Investigation Office and the Berlin State Criminal Police Office moved in: Special forces arrested the five men at a company address in Spandau.

Among those arrested was the 69-year-old to whom the delivery was addressed. Officers seized approximately one ton of marijuana from the shipment. The five suspects were brought before an investigating judge at the Tiergarten District Court on Tuesday. At the request of the Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office, the judge issued arrest warrants for all five men and ordered their detention.

The Joint Drug Enforcement Unit was established in 1978 between the Berlin-Brandenburg Customs Investigation Office and the Berlin State Criminal Police Office. Its objective is to combat organized international drug trafficking and related gang-related crime in Berlin and the surrounding area. The investigation in this case is ongoing.