"In Germany, we are witnessing a flood of cocaine. We are seeing a record number of drug-related deaths. We are seeing children being abused as criminals," said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrint (CSU).
In short: "Organized crime in Germany is still on the rise." Here are some figures: Just over 10 tons of cocaine were seized, two-thirds of which in German ports. 2.150 people paid for their drug addiction with their lives - 13 more than in 2024.
The graphic shows the nationality of the criminals involved in organized crime. Out of a total of 5.269 individuals, the majority are Germans (2.722), but there are also 191 individuals of Serbian citizenship.
Money laundering: 1,4 billion euros
Alongside Dobrint are Holger Minh, the president of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), and Hendrik Streck, the federal government's drug commissioner. They explain the alarming findings that are documented each year in the so-called Federal Situation Reports on Organized Crime (OC) and Drug Crime.
Drugs are the most profitable illegal business for internationally networked organized crime. The profits made in this way are invested, among other things, in the purchase of real estate in order to conceal its origin. Such crimes are called money laundering.
In 2025, 195 cases of so-called money laundering were detected, the head of the BKA summarizes. According to him, the volume of this money amounted to almost 1,4 billion euros.
Minh says of criminals: "They use their enormous financial power for bribery, for influence, and through money laundering they funnel that money into legal economic channels."
His conclusion is: cocaine, as the most widespread drug, poses a danger to the state, the economy and society as a whole.
Commissioner for Drugs: "Victims are, first and foremost, people"
Drug Commissioner Štrek adds: "It is not only the state that suffers the damage, the victims are primarily people."
People who died from drugs are on average 41 years old and the vast majority are men (83 percent).
"They are all buyers in a market that trades in deadly substances and is driven by violence, environmental destruction, blackmail and exploitation."
His position is clear, says this doctor by profession: zero tolerance towards those who make a living from addiction and zero indifference towards those who suffer from addiction.
That's why Štrek relies on preventive measures – including a public awareness campaign about the health and environmental consequences.
As an example, the drug commissioner states that rainforests are being cut down to grow cocaine. During processing, kerosene and battery acid end up in the soil and water, while farmers and their families in countries where cocaine is grown are exposed to blackmail.
Streck laments the increasing popularity of cocaine in Germany and warns: "There is blood on every gram of cocaine consumed for pleasure."
Contacts via social networks and gaming platforms
The drug trade has changed a lot over the years. The market has become digital, says Štrek.
"The dealer is no longer on the street corner, the dealer is in the smartphone. A simple QR code can, for example, be used to order a 'coke taxi'," he describes the modern path of cocaine and other drugs from dealer to consumer.
"It is particularly alarming that criminal groups are recruiting minors via social media or gaming platforms," says the Federal Government's Commissioner for Drugs.
"Organized crime is now looking for its young people where they spend their free time."
A different mafia - open demonstration of violence
For German and international security authorities, this development represents a particular challenge, as BKA President Minh testifies: the classic image of organized crime – discretion, isolation, closed structures – is increasingly a thing of the past.
"In Germany, too, we are noticing that a new generation of perpetrators, for example the so-called 'Generation Z mafia' of Turkish origin, is aggressively demonstrating their acts of power and violence on social media." Generation Z refers to those born between 1995 and 2010.
Criminal services can be purchased on the Darknet, Minh reports. For his service, this represents a paradigm shift: “The question is not just who committed the crime, but who ordered it, who brokered it, who financed it, and who benefits from it?”
Darknet platform "Archetyp Market" shut down
Investigators assume that state actors are increasingly moving into these hard-to-reach milieus. "To carry out attacks in the context of hybrid threats," the BKA chief says of their presumed motives. "Money laundering, corruption or violence can contribute to social destabilization."
The number of investigations into organized crime in 2025 was around 600, the fifth consecutive year with this average. As a particular success, the Federal Criminal Police Office cites the crackdown on the world's largest and longest-running digital platform for trafficking, primarily drugs, called "Archetyp Market".
The administrator was arrested in June 2025. Under his management, cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and other drugs were traded on the Darknet, with a turnover of 250 million euros.
At the time the platform was shut down, there were 3.200 sellers and 612.000 customer accounts registered on it, according to BKA data.
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