Armenian Foreign Ministry clarifies the truthfulness of publication  on links between Armenian embassy and Armenian mafia in Germany

ArmInfo. The Armenian Foreign Ministry responded to the publication of the media regarding the relationship of the Armenian diplomatic mission with the mafia in  Germany.

Thus, the Spokesperson of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Anna  Naghdalyan in particular told ArmInfo correspondent: "The Armenian  Foreign Ministry is in contact with the relevant structures of  Germany to clarify the veracity of the allegations being circulated  in the media. "We do not consider it appropriate to give a more  detailed comment. We will provide additional information on the  results."

Earlier, dw.com with reference to Der Spiegel published an article  stating that for three years the German police tried to arrest  members of the Armenian mafia in this country, but the investigation  did not recommend accepting the help of the Armenian Embassy in  Germany in investigating.

In the article, in particular, it was noted that the criminals from  the Caucasus region had built a powerful network in Germany, for  three years the investigators in the framework of the secret  operation tried to detain and arrest the representatives of the  Armenian mafia, but without particular success. "A strictly  classified special operation, codenamed Fight against thieves in law,  was conducted by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) in  conjunction with six land specialized agencies (LKA). This operation  was one of the largest investigations on organized crime in Germany.

"Thieves in law" are described in the investigation materials as  high-ranking authorities from Russian- Eurasian organized crime. They  also control Armenian mafia structures in Germany. Employees of the  Federal Intelligence Service BND and Europol helped the criminal  investigation team in the investigation.  The "point of reference"  was a shootout between two criminal clans, which occurred in July  2014 in Erfurt.  Then 14 criminal cases were opened against 42 people  suspected of financial fraud. According to the BKA experts, the  Armenian mafia in Germany "really exists." Together with other groups  from the Russian- Eurasian criminal circles, it has "substantial  financial" resources and can "threaten the foundations of the lawful  state." However, due to lack of evidence, the results of the  investigations have not yet led to accusations and criminal cases. In  addition, the topic of crime touched upon diplomatic relations.   According to Der Spiegel and MDR, the ambassador of Armenia to  Germany, Ashot Smbatyan, offered his German investigators assistance  in the fight against the Armenian mafia. However, the BKA recommended  not agreeing to this cooperation, noting that the investigators do  not exclude the connections of thieves in the law with  representatives of state structures of Armenia. As a result of more  than 70 operational search activities involving thousands of police  officers, more than 140 suspects in the arms trade and drug  smuggling, money laundering and the creation of clandestine  sweepstakes were detained, "the newspaper wrote.