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CRIME

Police bag biggest-ever crystal meth haul

Customs officials on Wednesday said they had confiscated seven kilos of crystal meth - the largest haul of the drug ever found in Germany. The dangerous stimulant was stashed in a delivery of wooden carvings from Nigeria.

Published: 18 April 2013 11:32 CEST
Police bag biggest-ever crystal meth haul
Photo: DPA

Police said they found the massive stash of crystal methamphetamine, also known as crystal or meth, when inspecting a box of wooden statues which arrived by air from the western African nation last Friday. The carvings also held three kilos of cocaine, said police in a statement on Wednesday.

Narcotics officials in Cologne suspect the record stash was the work of an international drug ring believed to be smuggling narcotics through the western German city of Cologne.

Airport officials had been put on high alert after a 55-year-old woman from Cologne was arrested in Tokyo at the end of March. She had been caught trying to smuggle around four kilogrammes of crystal meth into Japan – also hidden in wooden African statues.

Customs officials became suspicious when similar statues arrived at Cologne/Bonn Airport last week. On cracking open the hollow carvings, police said they found the crystal meth and cocaine wrapped in plastic bags inside.

Later that day two men aged 21 and 40 were arrested when they tried to pick up their delivery. Upon searching their flat, along with three others in the Cologne area, police said they found “extensive evidence,” confirming the existence of the drug ring. A 24-year-old Nigerian suspected of working as a gang accomplice, was also arrested.

The find is the biggest in a series of crystal meth smuggling hauls discovered in recent weeks in Germany. Five suspects were arrested at the end of March in Leipzig accused of bringing the trend drug in from the Czech Republic.

Authorities across Europe are increasingly concerned by a rapid growth in the use of highly addictive and cheap meth in recent years. The synthetic drug, typically manufactured in kitchen labs, often tests positive for battery acid, rat poison and other poisonous substances.

Effects include euphoria, raised self esteem and loss of fear, tiredness, hunger and pain – feelings which can very quickly make users badly hooked. The physical and psychological effects on users have been known to be devastating.

The Local/DPA/jlb

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GERMANY AND RUSSIA

Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

Germany and the Czech Republic on Friday blamed Russia for a series of recent cyberattacks, prompting the European Union to warn Moscow of consequences over its "malicious behaviour in cyberspace".

Published: 4 May 2024 10:29 CEST
Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

The accusations come at a time of strained relations between Moscow and the West following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the European Union’s support for Kyiv.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said a newly concluded government investigation found that a cyberattack targeting members of the Social Democratic Party had been carried out by a group known as APT28.

APT28 “is steered by the military intelligence service of Russia”, Baerbock told reporters during a visit to Australia.

“In other words, it was a state-sponsored Russian cyberattack on Germany and this is absolutely intolerable and unacceptable and will have consequences.”

APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, has been accused of dozens of cyberattacks in countries around the world. Russia denies being behind such actions.

The hacking attack on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD party was made public last year. Hackers exploited a previously unknown vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook to compromise e-mail accounts, according to Berlin.

Berlin on Friday summoned the acting charge d’affaires of the Russian embassy over the incident.

The Russian embassy in Germany said its envoy “categorically rejected the accusations that Russian state structures were involved in the given incident… as unsubstantiated and groundless”.

Arms, aerospace targeted: Berlin 

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the cyber campaign was orchestrated by Russia’s military intelligence service GRU and began in 2022. It also targeted German companies in the armaments and aerospace sectors, she said.

Such cyberattacks are “a threat to our democracy, national security and our free societies”, she told a joint news conference in Prague with her Czech counterpart Vit Rakusan.

“We are calling on Russia again to stop these activities,” Faeser added.

Czech government officials said some of its state institutions had also been the target of cyberattacks blamed on APT28, again by exploiting a weakness in Microsoft Outlook in 2023.

Czech Interior Minister Rakusan said his country’s infrastructure had recently experienced “higher dozens” of such attacks.

“The Czech Republic is a target. In the long term, it has been perceived by the Russian Federation as an enemy state,” he told reporters.

EU, NATO condemnation

The German and Czech findings triggered strong condemnation from the European Union.

“The malicious cyber campaign shows Russia’s continuous pattern of irresponsible behaviour in cyberspace, by targeting democratic institutions, government entities and critical infrastructure providers across the European Union and beyond,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said.

The EU would “make use of the full spectrum of measures to prevent, deter and respond to Russia’s malicious behaviour in cyberspace”, he added.

State institutions, agencies and entities in other member states including in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden had been targeted by APT28 in the past, the statement added.

The latest accusations come a day after NATO expressed “deep concern” over Russia’s “hybrid actions” including disinformation, sabotage and cyber interference.

The row also comes as millions of Europeans prepare to go to the polls for the European Parliament elections in June, and concerns about foreign meddling are running high.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told AFP that “pointing a finger publicly at a specific attacker is an important tool to protect national interests”.

One of the most high-profile incidents so far blamed on Fancy Bear was a cyberattack in 2015 that paralysed the computer network of the German lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. It forced the entire institution offline for days while it was fixed.

In 2020, the EU imposed sanctions on individuals and entities linked to the APT28 group over the incident.

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