(de-news.net) – The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) reports in its 2025 national situation report that organized crime is evolving in Germany. While criminal networks increasingly operate internationally and use social media, encrypted communications, and digital services to recruit offenders and plan crimes, investigations reached a five-year high. There has also been an increase in violence. With a high rate of cocaine and crack offenses, an increase in cannabis seizures, and ongoing drug-related fatalities, drug trafficking continues to be the biggest component of organized crime. The government’s response focuses on breaking up criminal networks, seizing illegal property, and bolstering law enforcement.
The BKA says the nature of organized crime in Germany is changing, with criminal networks becoming increasingly digital, international and specialized. According to the BKA’s 2025 national situation report, presented by Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), authorities conducted 683 organized-crime investigations involving nearly 8,000 suspects last year. That was the highest number recorded in five years. About 69 percent of the investigations had a transnational component, underscoring the extent to which criminal activity crosses national borders.
One of the clearest changes identified by the BKA is the growing role of digital platforms. Organized crime was long associated with secrecy and efforts to remain isolated from public view. Increasingly, however, younger criminal actors are using social media to project power, status and violence. Digital channels, social networks and encrypted messaging services have also become mechanisms through which criminal services are offered and arranged.
The range of services available through these channels extends from logistics and weapons to money laundering and the recruitment of people to carry out violent crimes. The digitalization of these activities can create distance between those commissioning offenses and those carrying them out. Clients may operate from abroad and arrange crimes in Germany without ever meeting the perpetrators in person. Among those recruited to carry out violent acts are, in some cases, minors reportedly as young as 13.
At the same time, violence has become a more prominent feature of organized crime, including in public spaces. The BKA points to a series of shootings and explosions in the Cologne area since summer 2024 as an example of the level of violence associated with criminal conflicts. The incidents were linked to the theft of a drug shipment. The report also identifies the recruitment of minors for violent acts, protection rackets and a low threshold for firearms use as increasingly significant elements of the organized-crime landscape.
The availability of illegally manufactured firearms adds another dimension to the threat. German authorities have increasingly detected so-called completely counterfeit firearms, which are produced outside authorized manufacturing facilities but closely replicate genuine weapon models. According to the BKA, some of these weapons are smuggled overland from Turkey into Germany and subsequently distributed by criminal organizations. Their growing availability, the agency says, can increase the potential for violence, particularly as criminal disputes increasingly spill into public areas.
Rising seizures of drugs and as fatalities from new psychoactive substances rise
Drug trafficking remains the dominant area of organized-crime activity. In 2025, it accounted for approximately 37 percent of all organized-crime investigations. Cocaine and crack offenses remained at a high level, with authorities recording 39,414 offenses, compared with 38,671 in 2024. A total of 10.1 metric tons of cocaine was seized, including 6.5 metric tons at German ports.
The figures also highlight the continuing importance of international supply routes. Large quantities of cocaine continue to reach Europe through legitimate maritime trade, providing criminal networks with opportunities to conceal illicit shipments within legal flows of goods. At the same time, the networks are increasingly turning to fast boats for smuggling. The resulting profits extend beyond the drug trade itself, with proceeds also being used for corruption and influence operations and being laundered into the legitimate economy.
Cannabis-related seizures also increased substantially. Although illegal cultivation continued in Germany, marijuana seizures tripled compared with the previous year. Authorities seized 567 cannabis plantations in 2025 with cultivation capacities of at least 20 plants, representing an increase of roughly 55 percent from 2024. The figures point to continued illegal production alongside the broader trafficking activity documented in the report.
The BKA also recorded 2,150 drug-related deaths in 2025, a figure that remained broadly in line with the previous year. Within that overall number, however, deaths associated with new psychoactive substances increased by almost 15 percent, reaching 177. The report notes that many of these substances are sold online, while the internet is also becoming increasingly important as a distribution channel for other illicit drugs. Digital access therefore extends beyond the organization of violent crimes and increasingly affects how illegal substances reach consumers.
Dobrindt described organized crime as a growing challenge to Germany’s domestic security and said criminal organizations were becoming more professional and increasingly willing to use violence. The government’s response is centered on a coordinated action plan addressing organized crime as well as financial and drug-related crime. Its stated objectives include dismantling criminal structures, confiscating illicit assets and strengthening enforcement against offenders, reflecting an approach that seeks to address both the criminal networks themselves and the financial foundations supporting their activities.
