The fear of a gang war between Chechen groups and Arab clans in Berlin is growing. The gangs from the Russian autonomous republic are apparently increasingly trying to challenge the influence of criminal clan members, for example in drug trafficking. According to the newspaper Berliner Zeitung, this was triggered by a violent clash in front of an open-late store in the street Wildenbruchstraße in the district of Neukölln.
Chechen henchmen are said to have attacked members of an Arab clan there on Saturday evening. According to insiders, they also stole drugs from them, which were intended for sale.Among other things, the attackers were armed with hammers. “We have been expecting such clashes between Arab groups and Chechens for some time, as the latter no longer want to be hired as mercenaries that work for the clans but want to profit from the crimes themselves,” said Benjamin Jendro of the Police Union (GdP) on Tuesday. “We are dealing here with people for whom violence and combat experience are part of their education and who have already been to war themselves in some cases”. The fact that the perpetrators are attacking a notorious extended Arab family practically in their own homes in the district of Neukölln shows that they have no scruples about taking the fight for lucrative business areas of organised crime to the streets.
According to investigators, a number of the thugs who were involved in the open-late store in Neukölln had been brought in from Magdeburg. This is because the Chechens are numerically at a disadvantage to the clan. That is why they are highly mobile and strongly networked to assist each other.
For this Tuesday evening, a so-called justice of the peace has invited both parties to a hearing. They met in a mosque in Neukölln. Clans try to solve their conflicts without the rule of law and keep the police out. Heads, mediators and so-called justices of the peace have established parallel justice for decades.”Against the background of their actions based on the extreme use of violence and deterrence and the strong desire to expand their influence in all directions, Chechen groups have noticeably expanded their influence here in recent years and have thus become increasingly influential,” states the Berlin State Office of Criminal Investigation in its situation picture of organised crime. According to the authors of the Situation Report, there are links between certain individuals from the Chechen scene and Islamist organisations.Chechens also formed part of the jihadist militia “Islamic State” and have been battle-hardened in several wars against Russia. They do not shy away from shootings on German streets either, for instance in March 2017, when a machine gun was fired at a café in the district of Gesundbrunnen.In August 2018 there was a large shoot-out in the street at the Chechen Cultural Centre in the district Märkisches Viertel. At least 20 shots were fired at each other. According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (LKA), the background to the dispute is likely to be the long-term rivalries between two Chechen gangs from the districts of Wedding and Hohenschönhausen.In Berlin, the shooting was the first open confrontation between Chechen gangs amongst themselves so far and, according to the authorities, shows “in addition to the absolute violence up to the willingness to kill, also the absolute disregard for persons not involved”.
berliner-zeitung.de/mensch-metropole/polizisten-warnen-vor-bandenkrieg-zwischen-tschetschenen-und-clans-li.117691?fbclid=IwAR3xF1CnhJg4waP40BcaFSgO2Ic03ZPTifl1DO4BYu6iDwe9eSs9NrAH0q0