German state and federal police on Monday raided apartments and business premises in several Berlin districts and in the surrounding state of Brandenburg in a crackdown on criminal gangs, German media reported.

A police spokesman said that the operation targeted serious robbery in the rocker scene, as well as the illegal arms and drugs trades.

The raids were backed by Germany's elite GSG 9 federal police tactical unit, according to the daily regional paper B.Z..

The operations took place in the Berlin districts of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Neukölln, Pankow, Reinickendorf and Spandau, with one location also searched in Bradenburg.

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Crackdown on clans

On Saturday evening, police raids on alleged "clan criminality" were carried out in 10 cities in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia. The industrial city of Essen was identified as a particular hub for clan activity.

Some 14,000 crimes over three years have been attributed by police to 104 clans comprising 6,500 suspects in the region.