Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

CRIME

‘What? No Becks?’ Men set fire to shop

Two men set fire to a shop in western Germany because it did not stock the brand of beer they were looking for - Becks Gold.

Published: 31 January 2014 12:43 CET

'What? No Becks?' Men set fire to shop

A CCTV image of the men at the shop. Photo: Dortmund Police

Police said on Thursday that the two men walked into the kiosk in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, on Sunday at 5am demanding a bottle of Becks Gold.

When the shop worker told them that they did not stock the drink, the two men left.

But 20 minutes later they returned with a jerrycan and after speaking briefly with the shopkeeper one of the men suddenly poured fuel from the can over the entrance to the shop and lit it.

A fire broke out, causing a small amount of damage to the front of the store.

The two men, who police said were drunk, fled. One was described as 175cm tall, 28 to 33 years old with a big nose.

The other was around 30 years old and 190 cm tall. He was wearing a grey jacket and jogging bottoms. Both spoke in Polish.

READ MORE: Manufacturer to thieves – stolen condoms aren't safe

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

German police swoop on gang of foreign dating scammers

The Black Axe gang was involved internationally in “multiple areas of criminal activity”, with a focus in Germany on romance scams and money-laundering, Bavarian police said in a statement.

The dating trick was a “modern form of marriage fraud”, police said.

“Using false identities, the fraudsters for example signalled their intention to marry and in the course of further contact repeatedly demand money under various pretexts,” police said.

The money was subsequently transferred to Black Axe in Nigeria “via financial agents”, authorities said.

In the process, the gang used a “commodity-based money laundering” scheme where products, often with a seeming “charitable purpose” were bought and delivered to Nigeria.

Some 450 cases of romance scamming had been reported in the region of Bavaria in 2023 alone, with the damages rising to 5.3 million euros ($5.7 million), police said.

The suspects, who all held Nigerian citizenship and were aged between 29 and 53, were arrested in nationwide raids on Tuesday.

Law enforcement swooped on 19 properties, including both homes and asylum shelters, police said.

The Black Axe gang had “strict hierarchical structures under leadership in Nigeria” operating different territorial units, police said.

The group had a “significant influence” on politics and public administrations, in particular in Nigeria.

Globally, the gang’s main areas of operation were “human-trafficking, fraud, money-laundering, prostitution and drug-trafficking”.

Black Axe operated under the cover of the Neo Black Movement of Africa, an ostensibly charitable organisation used as “camouflage” for the gang’s structures.

The action against Black Axe was the first of its kind in Germany, police said.

Url copied to clipboard!