In a joint operation, police units raided several properties in North Rhine-Westphalia, searching for evidence of the planning of an attack. They also arrested a young man from Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Investigators launched a raid this morning in several North Rhine-Westphalian cities on suspicion of financing an Islamist-motivated attack through fraud. The raids are taking place simultaneously at six properties in the cities of Essen, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, and Soest, according to the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Essen Police.
A 27-year-old man with Bosnian-Herzegovina citizenship has been provisionally arrested. According to the newspaper “Bild,” he is a former soldier with weapons training. This afternoon, a court ordered his pretrial detention. The 27-year-old came to Germany with his mother as a child. He had not previously been involved in any state security offenses. According to security sources, he had become radicalized in the past two years.
The aim was to “prevent the further planning and execution of this crime and to further clarify the facts,” it added. According to the information, the background to the searches is an “extensive investigation into suspected joint commercial fraud.” As part of this investigation, indications emerged that the assets obtained through the fraudulent acts were intended to finance an Islamist terrorist-motivated attack, the Attorney General’s Office and the police further stated.
“Do everything we can to ‘stop these guys'”
In addition, searches were conducted on the premises of third parties currently listed as witnesses to seize evidence. It is assumed that they were involved in fraudulent activities. “Whether they knew what these funds were to be used for is the subject of the investigation.”
North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul said the suspect had been under round-the-clock surveillance for weeks, also to gain information about other people in his circle. Several people involved had been questioned as witnesses. However, there was still “no definite indication that they were up to any evil,” Reul clarified. The investigation into the case was “far from over,” the Interior Minister emphasized.
Reul also stated that the police “did not hesitate” and “stopped potential terrorist activities before it was even a second too late.” The minister added: “There are people out there who disregard and want to destroy our values and way of life.” The security authorities would do everything in their power to “stop these guys.”
