By Axel Lier
It’s a criminal business worth millions. Little effort, little risk, always cash payment. Coke taxis roll through the capital around the clock, delivering what customers have ordered online in just a few minutes: cocaine, marijuana, pills.
The drivers dive unobtrusively into the heavy traffic of the capital and earn up to 5,000 euros per week. But danger lurks in the rear-view mirror.
The civilian investigators from Patrol Service K are just as inconspicuous as they are. The reputation of the ten-man squad from Section 52 (Kreuzberg) is legendary: they are Berlin’s most successful coke taxi crackers!
Their balance sheet from the past year: 90 kilos of drugs and 180,000 euros in cash confiscated, 1150 people and 460 cars checked, 243 arrests and seven live firearms discovered.
Not only cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy are supplied. Officers also seized several packages of steroids during an arrest. In addition, cash is often confiscated, and cell phones are also confiscated by the officers Photo: Axel Lier
BZ went with the investigators on the hunt for the rolling dealers.
“In Berlin there is always a need for coke, the lucrative business has long since replaced cellar burglaries, machine cracking and catalytic converter theft,” says Eric (58), head of the troupe. Patrol service K includes women, men, young and old. Police officers who do not attract attention in Kreuzberg, Neukölln, but also in Marzahn.
Seconds before the apartment raid. Team boss Eric (58) and his colleagues have their hands on their guns Photo: Axel Lier
The plainclothes police break open the door with a steel ram Photo: Axel Lier
It is 3.40 p.m., the investigators have taken the weather: Möckernstrasse corner Yorckstrasse. It’s about a gray Audi. A pack of civilian police cars attach themselves to it. Eric pulls his baseball cap down over his forehead, lifts the radio and says: “Lamp falls, a whale in front of us and give me the record.”
It is the language of observation, translated: The traffic light turns green, a BVG bus is driving in front of the civilian car and Eric wants to know the license plate number of the Audi. The query shows: It belongs to a well-known rental car company. hit. “The drivers sometimes have contracts, but then only for small money. 500 euros for a month. It also smells like money laundering,” says Eric.
The door burst, the investigators gained access to the suspect’s room Photo: Axel Lier
The gray Audi drives in the direction of Charlottenburg. It’s 4:15 p.m., the driver is parking on Suarezstrasse. In front of a restaurant. An employee ordered cocaine for the late shift. The officials pull out their pistols, storm off – access!
Audi and driver Salem Ch. (45, stateless) are searched. The man has a residence permit until May 2023, an ID card with the note “Employment permitted” and 100 euros with him. Also: 18 Eppendorf tubes with cocaine, one of which he gave to the buyer. The waiter is also awaiting criminal charges.
“In Omnia Paratus” is the slogan of the police force, translated: “All in all ready.” Photo: Axel Lier
A navigation app is running on the dealer’s cell phone. The next customer is waiting – now in vain – around the corner.
Salem Ch. says only what is absolutely necessary: He doesn’t take any drugs, he’s in need of money. He agrees to a voluntary search of the apartment and hands over the keys. “They’re all silent about the people behind it,” says Eric. Departure.
The dealer comes to the prisoner collection point. photos, fingerprints. A second team drives to Aronsstraße in Neukölln. The keys don’t match. A judge gives the go-ahead for forced entry. A steel ram does the rest.
In the suspect’s pockets, the civilian investigators found house keys, two Eppendorf jars with cocaine, the key to his gray Audi and 100 euros in cash Photo: Axel Lier
The dealer had the cocaine with him in 15 so-called Eppendorf tubes. It was hidden in the driver’s door Photo: Axel Lier
The investigators found no drugs. Instead, the suspect’s brother, who shows up minutes later. He says Salem Ch. doesn’t live here. He doesn’t know exactly where he lives. The trail goes nowhere. At 7:15 p.m., the news: The dealer is free again.
The civil investigators have long since attached themselves to the next coke taxi. “Lamp falls,” says Eric, “we’ll stay tuned“.
Again and again the police officers also find sharp firearms and knives during their operations Photo: Axel Lier