Searches in North Rhine -Westphalia: Raid due to suspected terrorism – arrest in Essen

A 27 -year -old man was arrested in Essen due to suspicion of terrorism by a special unit of the police. The Attorney General Düsseldorf had obtained an arrest warrant against the man, said a spokeswoman for the authority.

He was accused of jointly commercial fraud to finance a planned Islamist-terroristically motivated attack. It should still be presented to an investigative judge today.

“We assume that he has committed fraud and with the funds he has achieved through these frauds, to plan to organize an attack,” said the spokeswoman. She did not want to give details about the planned attack.

The 27-year-old is a man with Bosnian-Herzegovinian citizenship who came to Germany with his mother as a child. So far, the young man, who received a settlement permit as an adolescent, has not yet been noticed with state protection offenses. According to information from the German Press Agency, he only turned to Islamist ideology less than two years ago. The fact that the police already knew him is in appeal with various offenses in which violence and drugs are said to have played a role, among other things.

There are other suspects in the Essen and Dortmund area, said the prosecutor. So far there has been only a suspicion against them. This is how a 22 -year -old is being investigated in Dortmund – but only because of fraud. How many suspects are being dealt with was not said.

North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) said the police stopped possible terrorist. He emphasized the investigators’ determination to act against terrorist activities. “Anyone who pursues terrorist plans with us must expect that the SEK will be at the door in the morning-in time,” said the CDU politician.

According to information from security circles, the accused’s plans for the procurement of weapons had recently become more specific. In view of the possible terrorist scenarios he had in mind, it can be assumed that he at least accepted his own death.

Fraud with expensive electrical appliances

The fraud is said to have been the purchase and sale of high -priced electrical appliances. The investigative authorities assumed that they were ordered and then did not pay, said chief prosecutor Alexandra Wiese from the Attorney General Düsseldorf of the German Press Agency. “We assume that it wanted to get money through resale and that at least five -digit amounts have already been raised.”

The other suspects are apparently only suspected of fraud or the aid: “But whether they knew what these funds should be used for is the subject of the investigation.”

Searches in four cities in NRW

In total, searches took place at the same time in six objects in the cities of Essen, Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Soest, such as the Attorney General Düsseldorf and the Essen police.

In Essen and Dortmund, the accused was searched. The 27-year-old was arrested. In Düsseldorf and Soest, witnesses were searched to confiscate evidence.