1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Crime

German police arrest 4 brothers of infamous gang

Alexander Pearson
October 23, 2018

The Miri-Clan gang is believed to consist of several families of Lebanese-Arabic descent spread throughout Germany. The four brothers were arrested in connection with selling and smuggling cocaine and marijuana.

Police - Stock photo
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gentsch

Police arrested four members of Germany's notorious "Miri-Clan" criminal gang during apartment raids in four cities early on Tuesday morning.

Three of the suspects — all brothers aged 22, 28 and 30 — were arrested in Bochum, Herne and Essen in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, police said. Officers arrested a fourth brother, a 32-year-old self-proclaimed familial "patron," in Auerbach in the eastern state of Saxony.

Authorities suspect the four men of smuggling cocaine and marijuana into Germany and illegally selling the drugs as members of a gang. Police traced five kilograms (11 pounds) of smuggled marijuana to the group shortly before the raids.

Read more: Massive German police operation targets Turkish nationalist boxing gang

The arrests are the culmination of a monthslong police investigation into the MIRI-Clan's involvement in the sale of narcotics and a string of violent crimes in Bochum.

On New Year's Eve, the four brothers drove two cars into a nightclub bouncer after they were denied entry into a local club. Police arrived shortly thereafter and the bouncer survived the incident.

Several families of Lebanese-Arabic descent are believed to belong to the MIRI-Clan. Security services have been monitoring their activities for years amid their suspected involvement in criminal activities throughout Germany.

Berlin seizes crime clan assets

01:50

This browser does not support the video element.

Skip next section DW's Top Story

DW's Top Story

Skip next section More stories from DW