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34-880: In 2009 and 2011, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) launched the investigation against the Armenian mafia in Germany. At that time there was a suspicion of drug trafficking, which could not be proven yet. In the meantime, the BKA found that there are at least two Armenian clans in Erfurt at war with each other. On July 13, 2014, two men were badly injured when two clans got into an argument in which shots were fired in Erfurt . MDR Thüringen reported that after several months of investigations,

68-493: A parliamentary system of government, are largely a matter of legal form rather than political substance, as most federal states are democratic in structure if not practice with checks and balances ; however, some federal monarchies, such as the United Arab Emirates , are based upon principles other than democracy. Federal states primarily contrast with unitary states, where the central government retains many of

102-954: A 30-minute documentary film called "Godfather in Germany: The Armenian Mafia and Thieves-In-Law" about the existence of an Armenian mafia and its activities. A Berlin court issued an injunction against parts of this production and barred its broadcast. Armenian criminal groups in Germany were particularly involved in drug trafficking, counterfeiting, gambling, and the organization of illegal migration. French Gendarmerie with on-the-field support of Europol targeted suspects across France believed to be part of an Armenian mafia group involved in large-scale poly-criminal activities, including cigarette smuggling, extortion and money laundering. Over 27 house searches were carried out in Rennes, Gap, St. Etienne, Nancy, Strasbourg, Haguenau, Reims, Chalon-Sur-Saône, Paris, Nantes, Limoges and Brest. As

136-564: A result, 21 suspects were arrested, including an individual believed to be a high-ranking member of this mafia group. Some €23 000 in cash was seized at the premises, alongside over 2 000 packs of cigarettes, 23 kg of raw tobacco and 6 weapons. In December 2018, the French police conducted an operation codenamed VORS 69-01 against a criminal syndicate operating in France and Belgium , which included Armenian and Georgian mafiosi . The syndicate

170-427: A shotgun. It added that more than 50 electronic devices, credit cards, five luxury vehicles and documentation related to the case were also seized. Forty-two bank accounts have also been frozen. Europol said in a statement that "A criminal group of Armenian individuals used a professional tennis player, who acted as the link between the gang and the rest of the criminal group". Spain's Civil Guard added that "once they got

204-695: A specific and limited legal jurisdiction. This is because after World War II , it was decided that there should not be another all-powerful police force like the Reich Security Main Office (consisting of the Gestapo , Sicherheitsdienst , the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt ). The formation of the BKA is based on several articles of the German constitution , which give the federal government the exclusive ability to pass laws on

238-407: Is "Kriminalkommissaranwärter (KKA)". The entry level after finishing the three year studies is "Kriminalkommissar", meaning Detective Inspector. The criminal police ranks are divided into the "Gehobener Dienst" (upper service) and "Höherer Dienst" (higher service). The upper service is the investigative level of the BKA. The higher service could be described as the middle management of the BKA. To enter

272-570: Is equipped with Glock pistols , Heckler & Koch MP5 and other weapons. The Protection Group is also allowed to carry additional military-grade weapons, e.g. the ASE unit or the protection details (only revolvers are allowed in certain foreign countries). The use of these weapons and force in general is controlled by a special law, the UZwG . BKA police officers are authorized to carry their duty firearms concealed while off-duty. The Protection Group of

306-463: Is recruited similar to private companies. Potential law enforcement officers are recruited in a longer process. They have to pass a written and oral exam (interview, group discussions, psychological test), a sport test (endurance, strength, reaction), a medical examination and security screening. Personnel of the upper service usually needs to have passed a university entrance qualification (usually Abitur or Fachabitur ). Law enforcement personnel in

340-793: Is the federal investigative police agency of Germany , directly subordinated to the Federal Ministry of the Interior . It is headquartered in Wiesbaden , Hesse , and maintains major branch offices in Berlin and Meckenheim near Bonn . It has been headed by Holger Münch since December 2014. Primary jurisdiction of the agency includes coordinating cooperation between the federation and state police forces; investigating cases of international organized crime , terrorism and other cases related to national security ; counterterrorism ;

374-462: The BKA arrested 31-year-old car dealer Arthur Z. and 26-year-old Karo S. on suspicion of drug trafficking, as during the raids, police discovered 35 kilograms of marijuana. The BKA's report on Fatil concluded that Armenian mafia really exists in Germany, possesses considerable financial resources together with other criminal groups from the former Soviet Union and poses a threat to the rule of law. On 7 November 2018, German MDR TV prepared to broadcast

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408-436: The BKA creates task forces, which are called "Besondere Aufbauorganisation" (abbreviated: BAO). These task forces can integrate personnel from different divisions and state police forces as well. On some occasions international police forces participate too. The BKA currently employs more than 7100 people (as of July 2020). More than 3800 are sworn law enforcement officers of various ranks including upper management. Furthermore,

442-410: The BKA has more than 1100 civil servants (e.g. analysts as well as administrative or technical personnel). Another 2200 employees work for the BKA as scientists (forensic and natural sciences) and academics (criminology and law enforcement research). The BKA received more than 1,000 additional job positions in 2017. In the case of law enforcement officers, the BKA has employees in two career tracks of

476-574: The BKA is a political civil servant, who is appointed by the President of Germany upon recommendation from the Minister of the Interior and the cabinet. He or she can be provisionally retired by the federal president, as stipulated in §54 of the Law on Federal Civil Servants. The post is graded as B9 in the payscale for federal civil servants (which is the same as a lieutenant general or a vice admiral in

510-499: The BKA utilizes armoured cars from different manufacturers for their protection mission, e.g. like Mercedes-Benz W221 (for the President of Germany), Audi A8 L or BMW. 50°05′52″N 8°14′45″E  /  50.09778°N 8.24583°E  / 50.09778; 8.24583 Federal republic List of forms of government A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. At its core,

544-703: The German civil service. In the upper service (pay grades A9-A13g, comparable to military officer ranks up to Captain ) or in the higher service (pay grades A13h and above, comparable to military staff officer ranks of Major and above). In contrast, some state police forces in Germany such as Bavarian State Police and the Federal Police also have lower level career tracks with only two years of training and lower entrance requirements). The BKA recruits its personnel through different procedures: The civilian personnel (e.g. analysts, scientists, administrative personnel)

578-555: The armed forces). His or her vice-chiefs, who to this day have mostly been career officials from the ranks, are in the B6 paygrade. Anlage I BBesG - Einzelnorm BKA police officers are equipped with the SIG Sauer P229 as a duty firearm. Selected units are also equipped with Heckler & Koch MP5 machine pistols. Additionally the police officers are equipped with pepperspray and bulletproof vests. The special mission unit MEK

612-554: The biggest police hits ever to this kind of criminal organizations" In September 1995, members of the Armenian mafia were arrested by the FBI in North Hollywood accused of racketeering, extortion and other scams. Federal Criminal Police Office (Germany) The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany ( German : Bundeskriminalamt , pronounced [bʊndəskʁimiˈnaːlʔamt] , abbreviated BKA )

646-953: The bribe, the Armenian members went to the places where the matches were being played to make sure the player went through with what they had agreed, making the most of their imposing size". In 2018, National Police of Spain arrested 129 people from a Thief in law Armenian criminal organization, and carried out 74 house searches. Among the criminals arrested were 7 Thieves in Law, who were involved into drug trafficking, arms trade, tobacco smuggling, money laundering, corruption in sports bookmaking, and other property crimes committed throughout Europe. The suspects have close ties with tennis, beach volleyball, basketball, and hockey players who were bribed in at least 20 sport matches. The organization also had strong ties with other criminals who live along Europe, and used several dummy companies for their money laundering purposes. According to Pedro Felicio, Chief of EUROPOL´s Economic and Property Crime, that would be "one of

680-443: The career path of the higher service generally need to have passed a master's degree or a second state examination for direct recruitment. As a rule, the few directly recruited law enforcement officers for this career path are usually lawyers. However, a large proportion of the officers in the BKA's higher service career path are promoted law enforcement officers from the upper career path, who have proven themselves very well. After

714-452: The central government has complete sovereignty over all aspects of political life. This more decentralized structure helps to explain the tendency for more populous countries to operate as federal republics. Most federal republics codify the division of powers between orders of government in a written constitutional document. The political differences between a federal republic and other federal states , especially federal monarchies under

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748-531: The coordination of criminal policing in Germany. The jurisdictions of the BKA are defined in the Bundeskriminalamtgesetz (BKAG): Since its establishment in 1951, the BKA's number of staff has grown substantially. This has notably been driven by the fight against the left-wing terrorism in the 1970s and the internationalization of crime in the decades thererafter. Thus its structure has been undergoing constant reorganized. The last major reform

782-408: The division TE consists of sections from the division ST who are tasked with the collection of information and investigations in the fields of terrorism, religious motivated extremism and jihadism . The division's main tasks lie in investigations in the fields of cybercrime and computer-oriented crime The BKA is part of several joint centers and platforms for combatting crime: For special cases

816-409: The federal level, while matters such as infrastructure maintenance and education policy are usually handled at the regional or local level; however, views differ on what issues should be a federal competence, and subdivisions usually have sovereignty in some matters where the federal government does not have jurisdiction. A federal republic is thus best defined in contrast to a unitary republic , whereby

850-727: The higher service members of the upper service have to pass an additional exam. After passing the test and acception for the higher service, these recruits have to study an additional two years at police university in Münster . The higher service can also be entered by external, non-police personnel from selected academic fields. The BKA is headed by three top executives, a chief ( Präsident des Bundeskriminalamtes ) and two vice-chiefs ( Vizepräsidnet beim Bundeskriminalamt ), which in German BKA-lingo are referred to as "Amtsleitung" , to be translated into 'agency management'. The chief of

884-673: The law enforcement officer applicants for the upper career path pass the mentioned exams, they study at the Federal University for Applied Administrative Sciences (Departmental Branch of the Federal Criminal Police) for three years at different locations. While studying (law, criminal proceedings, constitutional law, criminology, police tactics, ethics) they also receive traditional police training like martial arts (Krav Maga, Jiu Jiutsu, Judo), shooting, basic driving and crime scene investigation. During their studies

918-612: The literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means a country that is governed by elected representatives and by an elected leader, such as a president, rather than by a monarch or any hereditary aristocracy . In a federal republic, a division of powers exists between the federal government and the government of the individual subdivisions. While each federal republic manages this division of powers differently, common matters relating to international affairs and treaties, security and defense, inter-state relations, and monetary policy are usually handled at

952-1109: The members of Germany's constitutional bodies and their foreign guests and is often the most visible part of the BKA. Specially selected and trained officers with special equipment and vehicles provide round-the-clock personal security to those they protect. The Protection Group is now headquartered in Berlin. (in German: Abteilung OE – Operative Einsatz- und Ermittlungsunterstützung) (in German: Abteilung KT – Kriminalistisches Institut) (in German: Abteilung IT – Informationstechnik) (in German: Abteilung IZ – Internationale Koordinierung, Bildungs- und Forschungszentrum) (in German: Abteilung ZV – Zentral- und Verwaltungsaufgaben) Established on November 1, 2019

986-411: The officers on the same career path of the Federal Police and the police forces of the federal states. The BKA has the same rank structure as the other police forces in Germany. As a criminal police branch, the different ranks are preceded by the description "Kriminal-". The uniformed police forces normally have the description "Polizei-" like "Polizeikommissar". The rank of police candidates or recruits

1020-615: The police candidates complete an 8-month internship at a local state police office and an 8-month internship in several investigative, support and analysis units of the BKA. Higher service personnel of the BKA study for two years at the German Police University in Münster (formerly the Police Command and Staff Academy). There they usually earn a Master of Arts degree in police management. They study together with

1054-475: The protection of members of the constitutional institutions , and of federal witnesses. When requested by the respective state authorities or the federal minister of the interior, it also assumes responsibility for investigations in certain large-scale cases. Furthermore, the Attorney General of Germany can direct it to investigate cases of special public interest. The Federal Criminal Police Office

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1088-816: Was established in 1951, and Wiesbaden, in the State of Hesse, was designated as its seat. The German police in general is – by definition of the German constitution – organized at the level of the states of the federation (e.g. North Rhine-Westphalia Police , Bavarian State Police , Berlin Police ). Exceptions are the Federal Police , the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the German Parliament Police . Because of historic reasons all these federal police forces have

1122-973: Was implemented in July 2016 and resulted in the structure described below. The BKA is currently organized in eleven divisions. The President of the BKA is supported by its staff in the so-called "Leitungsstab" (which has not the status of a division): (in German: Stab LS – Leitungsstab) (in German: Abteilung ZI – Zentrales Informationsmanagment) (in German: Abteilung ST – Polizeilicher Staatsschutz) (in German: Abteilung SO – Schwere und Organisierte Kriminalität) (in German: Abteilung SG – Sicherungsgruppe) The Protection Group protects

1156-515: Was involved in burglaries, drug trafficking, and document forgery. More than 300 police officers and aircraft were involved in the operation. Among those arrested were 9 Georgian citizens, two of whom were thieves in law. Spain's Civil Guard arrested 15 people in an investigation into tennis match-fixing . Europol released information that 11 house searches had been carried out in Spain in which 167,000 euros (£151,000) in cash were seized, along with

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