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CRIME

Paedophile ring used girl, 5, to entice victims

Eleven people arrested on Saturday for running an international paedophile ring have been released. The group is accused of distributing child porn as well as using a five-year-old girl to entice victims.

Paedophile ring used girl, 5, to entice victims
A street in Aschersleben is sealed off during the arrests on Saturday. Photo: DPA

Police arrested ten men aged 22 to 60 and one 53-year-old woman on Saturday evening in Saxony-Anhalt on suspicion of being core members of a paedophile ring. All have been questioned and released as no charges have been filed against them yet.

Magdeburg police spokesman Holger Herrmann told reporters on Monday the suspects were accused of owning and distributing child pornography, in addition to the ring's other alleged criminal activity.

They used a five-year-old to attempt to make contact with other children at a playpark, police said on Monday.

Despite the group being "extremely discreet and careful", investigators discovered it met once a year to exchange contacts and plan alleged illegal acts.

Officers made the arrests after a raid on the group's annual gathering at the town of Aschersleben, police in the central Saxony-Anhalt region said on Sunday.

Saturday's raid involved around 150 officers and 20 vehicles.  

The alleged ringleaders come from Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, North Rhine-Westphalia and Switzerland, and three of them have previous convictions for related offences.

The group is believed to have mainly conducted its activities online after investigators seized computers, communications equipment and hard drives belonging to the suspects.

Rainier Wendt, chairman of the German Police Union, told Bild newspaper he saw the arrests as a great success.

"The detectives must be pretty expert, because investigating on the web is no easy task," he said.

SEE ALSO: Child murderer, 46, jailed as a minor

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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