Especially during the search of a bar in Friesdorf, Customs officers got an eyeful. Because in the garage of the bar on Friesdorfer Strasse, they seized some hundreds of kilograms of untaxed tobacco, as summarized by Customs spokesperson Jens Ahland. In total, almost half a ton was found during the raid in the four bars. "That was an absolute record amount," he said. The vast majority of it was discovered in the above-mentioned bar and garage. At the moment, however, the investigation and hearings are still ongoing. Especially since it is not only about untaxed or counterfeit tobacco. It's also about undeclared labor, violations of the minimum wage, and illegal employment.

But these were by no means the only findings in the bar. According to GA information, it came as no surprise that the task force found so many violations in the Friesdorf bar. The bar has already been known for quite some time for dubious activities, which are said to have taken place there. And as officials learned, that was not the only shisha bar in Bad Godesberg with a dubious reputation.

In an inquiry to the City of Bonn, it responded with the following: "In the searches at the beginning of March, all shisha bars inspected in Bad Godesberg were equally in focus", explained Isabel Klotz of the press office in reference to the above-mentioned bar: “It’s just that the different departments of the City of Bonn and the central Customs office in Cologne [...] found such serious offenses that the municipal citizen services officially closed the bar and forbade the proprietor from being engaged in further business there.”

According to GA information, alcohol had been served in the bar without a liquor license. As Customs spokesman Jens Ahland added, a visitor in the bar was arrested on the spot by police on suspicion of illegal residency. "Customs agents specially trained in document forgery determined that his presented residence documents had been forged," Ahland continued.

Even though the city has permanently banned that proprietor from operating the business, the bar is open again: "Shortly before Easter, a new proprietor registered his business to operate on the premises there," explains Customs spokesman Klotz: "Within the framework of freedom of trade, the new operator is now allowed to run the business, irrespective of what his predecessor was accused of.”

The name of another Bad Godesberg shisha bar was repeatedly mentioned to this newspaper in connection with complaints: A bar that had also been the focus of the raid at the beginning of March and where customs had also made a finding. The press office says: "The Bonn shisha bars are inspected by the relevant municipal services more often than other establishments with other types of operations because of the known carbon monoxide problem," says Isabel Klotz. It is then inevitable that the bar "has been the subject of various official inspections". However, there was no reason to prohibit the operation of the bar; it is allowed to remain open.

But shisha bars remain a serious problem, according to an experienced investigator who, for obvious reasons, does not want to read his name in the newspaper. According to reliable data, it is often the case that a number of illegal activities are hidden behind a front company which provides legal cover. Customs spokesman Jens Ahland does not want to comment further on this statement. But he says: "Inspections in shisha bars are an absolute focal point of our work, especially since we are always finding things and the proprietors often change.”

The findings such as those made in the garage of the Friesdorf bar give pause for thought. "With the discovery of around half a ton of untaxed tobacco, which was also manufactured in-house and the packaging which imitated high-quality tobacco, we are obviously on the trail of a larger network," emphasizes Jens Ahland: "We have, so to speak, cracked the distribution level." Customs is not only concerned about the black market with counterfeit and untaxed tobacco for tax reasons: "There is also the health aspect, because a lot of counterfeit tobacco was contaminated with concrete and metal residues as well as mouse droppings.”

According to GA information, residents complain time and again about shisha bars. The press office says: "In the Bad Godesberg district, the City of Bonn is currently aware of six shisha bars." And further: "The city of Bonn, like all regulatory authorities nationwide, may not exert any influence under commercial law on the number and types of operation of the establishments located in its municipal area." As far as the complaint situation is concerned, Klotz explains: "Shisha bars are viewed with scepticism by many citizens.” In addition to nocturnal disturbances, parking violations are also a regular focus of complaints.

(Original text: Axel Vogel / Translation: ck)