Crime prevention and enforcement Police and customs officers inspect shisha bars and brothels

On Thursday, 150 police officers went out on patrol in Bonn in a large-scale operation. They focused on pickpocketing in the city, but also zeroed in on shisha bars and brothels.

  Police and customs officers conducted several raids in the city center on Thursday, targeting shisha bars and brothels.

Police and customs officers conducted several raids in the city center on Thursday, targeting shisha bars and brothels.

Foto: Benjamin Westhoff

The police and customs authorities conducted large-scale checks and inspections in Bonn on Thursday. They focused not only on pickpocketing, but also on brothels and shisha bars. Officers patrolled the Hofgarten, among other places, to crack down on drug dealers and illegal weapons. "Such controls are a strategic focus of our bureau. We use them to increase the pressure on criminals. It is important to me that we regularly send out a signal that goes beyond our normal presence," said Police Chief Frank Hoever.

According to customs, a total of 150 kilograms of untaxed tobacco was seized during raids on four shisha bars in Bonn. "The strategy to go to all places at the same time was a complete success," said press spokesman of the Cologne main customs office, Jens Ahland, in the evening. In all of the bars that were checked, criminal proceedings were initiated due to tax evasion. In the customs investigation, they are also pursuing a suspicion that most of the tobacco packages found all came from the same source. They were packaged in a strikingly similar manner, Ahland added.

The Bonn police reported in the evening that about 170 people and vehicles had been checked over the course of the day until 8:30 p.m. Seven criminal charges were filed, and these included narcotics and tax violations. During traffic controls, 16 persons were found to have committed violations. Two illegal gambling machines were seized.

This was not the first police operation of this kind. Last year, for example, they targeted Bad Godesberg's Kurpark - one of the crime hotspots about which citizens repeatedly complain, according to the police. In this operation, around 150 officers were dispatched to various locations throughout the area.

Police stand on Münsterplatz

A police stand was set up on Münsterplatz to raise awareness about increased pickpocketing. Plainclothes officers offered advice to passersby about their security concerns. Again and again, people stopped to speak with the police. Their perception that pickpockets have increased sharply since the beginning of the year was confirmed. "There are more people in the city again, there are of course opportunities for crime," said Simon Rott, spokesman for the Bonn police. For this reason, officers sprayed warning signs on the ground around Münsterplatz. These will remain until July and hopefully will encourage people to pay more attention while they stroll through the city.

Awareness is important because pickpockets use professionally rehearsed scams and tricks. In most cases they create a situation where "People are distracted, look away and in the meantime things are taken from them," says Rott. On buses, the perpetrators instigate a situation where people are squeezed together and then remove wallets from pockets while bumping into people. Rott advises people to prepare for potentially dangerous situations before going out on the town: Keep all valuables secure, do not leave bags unattended, and react cautiously to people asking for directions, especially in cafés.

Undercover officers on the move

In order to convict perpetrators, police were out both undercover and in uniform on Thursday - in the pedestrian zones and on the streets. At around 4 p.m., several groups of officers swarmed Bonn's city center to conduct random checks. Several young men were stopped at the Hofgarten. At Kaiserplatz, several bags were checked for stolen goods, while other groups of police officers patrolled between Hofgarten and the bus station. The strong police presence was intended to give Bonn residents a sense of security and serve to prevent crime.

In a late evening raid, shisha bars, brothels and brothel-like apartments also fell under police scrutiny. Customs was responsible for inspecting the shisha bars. In addition to illegal gambling, the authorities were also on the lookout for illegal tobacco, as they did in Cologne at the beginning of the year. According to the investigators' findings, the sale of shisha tobacco in bars brings in 70 to 100 euros per kilo. The bar operators get the illegal tobacco for only five euros a kilo.

Orig. text: Lea Henneberg, Nicolas Ottersbach, Benjamin Westhoff

Translation: ck

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