October 2019 The Times 3 DPA/JÜRGEN HELD DPA/JÜRGEN

Mug shot: Nidal R. as a mural in Neukölln

“In their eyes, it’s an object of BY ANDREAS KOPIETZ ridicule, a target for exploitation. They see unemployment benefits n August evening on Son- Let us prey for as a source of income to sup- nenallee, Berlin-Neukölln: plement all their other sources. ATires screech as police Arab clans control many Berlin streets where the police dare to They’re not uncomfortable with vans come to a sudden stop. welfare assistance. After all, they Officers enter hookah bars and patrol only in squads of multiple officers. Berlin Interior Secretary Andreas Geisel don’t have to rely on it to get by. cafés. Men sitting at tables look wants to finally combat the criminals in earnest They’re not interested in laws. surprised. The officers are accom- They try only to extract gains panied by tax investigators and from what the state and society employees of the public order can offer.” office. They’re controlling whether 80 different crimes. When frus- Successful television series like the mid-1970s. Integration was probably never find out. The fami- For some time, Liecke has been bar owners are following indus- trated police officers publicized Dogs of Berlin (TNT) and 4 Blocks not a top priority for the destina- lies will not say a word. Clans see advocating for a city-wide con- trial codes, whether their account- the extent of his law-breaking (Netflix), each of which portrays a tion country, as it was hoped that the police and the institutions of cept to address the clan problem ing checks out, whether they’ve background, he became known rather kitschy image of clan life in the refugees would return to their state as their enemies. similar to that which has been installed more slot machines than nationwide as “Berlin’s youngest Neukölln, are profiting from this homeland once the war was over. “Clans behave in their German implemented in Neukölln, where are permitted. What’s happening career criminal.” pop culture. The shows swim in But that’s not what happened. surroundings as if they were tribes authorities have long been pool- here is what’s called a “coordinated The case became a prime exam- glamour and are now facing accu- Because they didn’t have Leba- in the desert. Everything outside ing resources, where juvenile legal deployment” targeting the crimi- ple of a “feeble and helpless” jus- sation of elevating criminals to nese papers, could not the clan is enemy territory and support agencies, magistrates, nality of Arab clans. In 2018, such tice system that could not fulfill its cult status. send the refugees back. available for plunder,” says Ghad- district attorneys, the police and large-scale group deployments still mandate. In September, Nidal R. “The true image is anything As the Mhallami refugees trans- ban. Germany is seen as simply a schools work together to discour- drew quite a lot of public atten- was shot in Neukölln, most likely but romantic. Most members of ferred their lives to Germany, they society to take from. age potential future criminals. tion. They’ve since become com- by rival gangsters. His funeral these families are sorry failures, of course brought their clan rela- And so it is that clan members Something in this direction was monplace and now happen on a was attended by more than 2,000 and were already losers as school tionships along with them. They receive full social welfare while proposed by Berlin Interior Sec- weekly basis. mourners, including all clan chiefs kids,” says one police investigator closed themselves off from those driving an expensive AMG Mer- retary Andreas Geisel in Novem- These operations involving from all over Germany who were who has spent years immersed in around them and created a paral- cedes they bought with money ber of 2018. The Social Demo- several different authorities are intent on demonstrating unity this milieu. He won’t reveal his lel society – not only in Berlin, they stole or got for selling drugs. crat presented a five-point plan intended to get a leg up on some- above all else. Hundreds of police name, as many officials’ fear of but in the Ruhr Valley and in Four years ago, a 19-year-old designed such that gang members thing long neglected – the state’s officers stood guard at the cer- threats is both considerable and Bremen as well. They tend not to welfare recipient showed up at a will have to face stricter com- battle against the criminality of emony; traffic came to a standstill. fully justified. interact with the police and settle municipal housing association. He mercial and financial controls. Arab clans, which have become These incidents serve to show dropped €200,000 on the table The authorities’ goal is to inhibit ever more powerful in Germany that politicians in Berlin and and wanted to buy a home. The money laundering. in recent decades and now con- other German states like North employees registered no suspi- The district attorney has now trol the underworld of many Rhine-Westphalia have started ZINKEN DPA/PAUL cions of money laundering and created a special department to major cities. to engage more intently with the agreed to the sale. Only later did seize illegally purchased assets. Over the past few years, “clan clans. Police authorities are now it become known that the money Statutory violations will conse- crime” has become a significant coordinating across state borders, was probably from the heist of quently be punished. Moving for- public issue. Politicians and media as criminal clans are not only net- the Sparkasse that members of his ward, authorities will cooperate outlets had long avoided the topic worked within Germany, but all family had blown up. interdepartmentally: job centers, for fear of accusations of xeno- across Europe and the world. Prosecutors then began to inves- tax offices, immigration authori- phobia. For as many as 20 years, A dozen clans, each with sev- tigate and in summer 2018 seized ties, youth welfare offices and members of several large Arab eral hundred members, supply 77 properties that belonged to the offices of public order. families have earned their liveli- the Berlin police with a constant clan and were allegedly purchased With this aim, Geisel established hood exclusively through social flow of work. It’s always the same to launder money. A new law has a coordination unit at the state welfare and crimes such as theft, figures committing the same At Nidal R.’s funeral been passed that facilitates the office of criminal investigations robbery and extortion. offenses, small and large, with recovery of assets. Owners must in December. As the interior sec- But then the Arab clans started names like Al-Zein, Remmo or now prove that money used for retary explained, “There will be making headlines. In 2010, a group Ali-Khan. purchasing property was acquired many opportunities for individual of brothers and cousins robbed a Not all members of these fami- legally. offices to play their part.” poker tournament at Potsdamer lies are criminals. But many of People outside of Berlin It’s the first seizure of this sort This is what interior ministers Platz. In 2014, in the middle of the them help cover up the dark deeds have developed a in Germany, and it’s unclear and officials in Berlin and North- Christmas shopping season, mem- of their fathers, brothers and whether it will withstand judicial Rhine Westphalia call “pinprick bers of a large family known to cousins. If they are questioned gruesome fascination with scrutiny. As a spokesperson for policy,” that is, a policy designed the police looted a jeweler in the by police or in court, they just the prosecution admits, the legal to hamper clans in carrying out posh department store KaDeWe. can’t seem to remember. Or in the German capital situation is precarious. This law their endeavors. “No stone is left That same year, clan members the words of mafia expert Sandro came into being because orga- unturned,” says Geisel. “Double- cracked open safe-deposit boxes Mattioli: “The clans are male asso- nized gangs and clans are increas- parking is fined, and if the kids at a Sparkasse in Berlin-Tempel- ciations; there is a vow of secrecy. ingly often investing their ill-got- don’t attend school, we step in. hof and then blew up the entire Members find it extremely diffi- There are streets in Neukölln, their conflicts among themselves, ten gains in real estate and legal Rotten orange juice in the hookah bank. Members of a clan are cur- cult to break out of the societies.” Kreuzberg and Gesundbrunnen either through their own mag- businesses like hookah bars. bar is subject to inspection. Petty rently standing trial for stealing a In the meantime, people out- where police will only dare to istrates or through agreements Authorities cooperate only cau- crime does not go uncharged. And 100-kilo gold coin from the Bode side of Berlin have developed a tread with a squad. Even during worked out by clan elders. Insults tiously to uncover and expose if we can terminate their right to Museum in 2017. In 2018, a clan is gruesome fascination with the routine actions like citing a clan or failed businesses are compen- connections between social assis- stay in this country, then we do alleged to have robbed an armored German capital. Two Berliners member for parking in a bike sated through cash settlements. tance abuse and large-scale trans- that, too.” car near Alexanderplatz; several have even started selling what path, police officers are often sur- But it also not uncommon that actions. Data protection laws are a However, Geisel warns against Lebanese nationals are currently they call a “Clan Map,” a guide rounded and threatened by rela- conflicts are resolved in the street. further obstacle. unrealistic hopes of a quick suc- in custody for the offense. to locating the homes and favor- tives and associates. “Clan mem- In the Britz section of Neukölln, According to Neukölln’s deputy cess. He assumes that the strug- “The increased public interest ite bars of clan bigwigs as well bers stand out for the way they act a 43-year-old was clubbed to district mayor and district coun- gle against clan crime will take was driven by the criminals’ own as the cemeteries harboring the on their territory,” says a police death by two masked men with cilor for youth and health, Falko decades. “It’s a marathon, not a insolence,” argues Ralph Ghad- gravesites of certain dead crimi- spokesperson. “Their message is: baseball bats. The police suspect Liecke (CDU), if the vehicle reg- sprint.” ban, a Lebanese-born Islamic nals. These “city maps for Berlin’s ‘Scram! This is our street!’” that it concerned a debt of up to istration office, job center and The August crackdown on Son- scholar living in Berlin. “Their parallel world” are hoped to be Clan crime has grown slowly €200,000. police were to systematically nenallee – including the former arrogance reached such a degree boon with tourists. The clans, a and furtively in Berlin. Many clans In Gropiusstadt, another area share data, abuse of the welfare haunt of Nidal R. – was one such that no one could overlook it. Last Berlin paper recently wrote, are belong to the Mhallami ethnic of Neukölln, a 42-year-old man system could be significantly pinprick. The police officers year, Ghadban published a best- “part of local pop culture.” group, which lived in Turkish East was shot in the leg – a warning for curtailed. “If a clan member is uncovered violations of tax law, seller titled Arabische Clans – Die This pop culture also includes Anatolia, spoke a dialect of having come too close to the wife stopped in a Mercedes S-Class, gambling ordinances and com- unterschätzte Gefahr (Arab clans peculiar scenarios, such as the and began migrating to of a clan member. the police could immediately mercial regulations. They also – the underrated danger). “If the well-known rapper Bushido being in the 1920s. They tend to belong In the last week of August, the determine whether he receives found evidence of tax evasion and media covers it,” he says, “it influ- protected by the Abou-Chaker to the lower class and live in com- police in Neukölln were again social welfare and to whom the money laundering and confiscated ences policy. Politics reacts, but clan in return for a share of his parative isolation. Some, such as involved in a major operation car is registered. A similar system untaxed hookah tobacco. And yet, it’s not proactive.” music profits – that is, until their those in the Abou-Chaker clan, to separate two groups. On two could be implemented for real the next morning, all the shops The funeral of a felon also relationship recently broke down. hailed from Palestinian refugee consecutive days, youths from estate. The tax office would then were open again for business. attracted attention last year. Bushido, who regularly insults the camps in Lebanon. two clans had engaged in street have to log the land register Nidal R. had spent 14 of 38 years police in his songs, is now obliged The first families from Lebanon fights using knives, clubs and even entry.” Andreas Kopietz is an editor in prison. By his 20th birthday, to live under police protection came to West Berlin and West traffic signs. Police do not know Liecke believes that criminal at the Berliner Zeitung. the police had prosecuted him for himself. Germany as civil war refugees in what triggered the battles and will clans are scoffing at the state.