Serious and Organised Crime
Division SO (Serious and Organised Crime) performs duties in the areas of investigation and analysis as well as other service tasks. Its work is concentrated on the following fields of criminal activity: violent and serious crime, drug crime, economic and financial crime, property crime, counterfeiting/forgery, and high-tech/computer crime.
By virtue of original jurisdiction, Division SO assumes police duties of prosecution, for example in cases of internationally organised trafficking in weapons, explosives or narcotic drugs as well as internationally organised illegal production or distribution of counterfeit money requiring inquiries in other countries. The suppression of internationally organised money laundering is also among the tasks assigned to Division SO.
In addition, Division SO serves as the central office for collecting and analysing all important reports received about criminal offences and offenders. It provides support for the tasks carried out at another office in the BKA that serves as the National Central Bureau of Interpol, in particular support for co-operation with foreign police and judicial authorities and for legal assistance at police level involving offices in other countries.
The holistic approach to crime suppression employed by Division SO is distinguished by the linking of investigation and analysis as well by multi-agency and cross-sectoral cooperation with authorities and institutions in Germany and abroad. This network of security authorities at national and international level is supported by goal-oriented co-operation with the business sector, especially with the so-called "global players", because the development of crime at international level in particular and the consequences of such crime can no longer be confronted adequately by employing only the conventional police instruments for prevention and repression.
When major investigations are concerned, the officers make their inquiries with the assistance of experts in widely varying areas of specialisation at the BKA and relevant offices in the German states, in general also in co-operation with the investigating authorities and central offices of other countries.
A specific example follows:
The Bundeskriminalamt conducted investigations in the greater Cologne area for suspected production and distribution of counterfeit US-dollar banknotes. The initial reason for this was the discovery of shredded counterfeit money in the refuse incinerating plant in Cologne. One of the main perpetrators was traced after individual paper cuttings had been
meticulously pieced together. Various undercover investigation measures and the close co-operation with the German Federal Bank and the US Secret Service led to the success: Searches in a printing workshop and several depots resulted in the seizure of counterfeit US 100-dollar banknotes with a face value of approximately 16 million US dollars. This is the second largest seizure of counterfeit money in the world. The seizure prevented large quantities of high quality counterfeit US dollars from going into circulation. In addition, the searches led to the discovery of material suitable for counterfeiting euro banknotes. Furthermore, cocaine, amphetamines, several firearms with ammunition and forged topclass wines including false printed labels were also found and seized.
Specialised sections at the BKA provide the investigative and analysis sections of Division SO with assistance in carrying out their tasks. In addition to the covert investigations section, these are in particular:
VIVA (section for asset confiscation as part of integrated proceedings). VIVA's objective is to identify assets obtained through illegal transactions and to initiate provisional seizure measures with a view to having the assets forfeited or assisting with their recovery. By this means, the perpetrators are not only deprived of their profits but also kept from investing such profits in new criminal schemes.
As the interface for the national and international cooperation, the Central Child Pornography Unit goes into action. Here the media are searched for child pornography, and information about producers, distributors and victims is systematically collected and processed. In this connection, the Internet is becoming increasingly significant. The aim of the BKA measures is to identify both the offenders and the victims of sexual abuse.
To an increasing extent, attention is also being focused on the suppression of high-tech and computer crime. During the past years, the rapid technological development and the resulting use of open networks such as the Internet for criminal offences have given rise to numerous new forms of crime with different modi operandi. The specialists at Division SO collect and assess all intelligence and information, coordinate investigations of other police authorities, provide support for the police forces of the German states, and also conduct investigations of their own in special cases of computer crime. Division SO of the BKA also has original investigative jurisdiction in particularly serious cases involving computer sabotage.
Investigative work in the field of serious and organised crime receives high-level technological support from the Central Unit for Random Internet Searches (ZaRD). Its members continuously conduct nonincident-related searches of publicly accessible data networks, above all the Internet, with a view to identifying criminally relevant contents (”cyberpolice patrols”). The officers pass on their investigative results to those responsible for criminal prosecution in police forces and public prosecutors' offices.
Already prior to any investigations and/or other largescale proccedings that may be commenced later, cross-case analyses are initiated within the framework of selected special analysis projects in order to identify new approaches to crime suppression.
Besides employing the instruments described above, successful suppression of such crimes often also requires the intensive interaction of various authorities and institutions above and beyond the day-to-day co-operation. New forms of cooperation have been developed for this purpose. They range from the Joint Financial Investigation Group (GFG) of the BKA and the central office of the German customs investigation service (ZKA) to the Joint Customs / Police Precursor Monitoring Unit (GÜS) all the way to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU Germany).
The Joint Customs / Police Precursor Monitoring Unit (GÜS) monitors the legal production of and trade in chemicals that can be misused for the manufacture of drugs.
In addition, in May 2006, the Joint Analysis and Strategy Centre for Illegal Migration (GASiM) was set up by representatives from the BKA, the Federal Police and other security authorities. The establishment of GASiM is intended to effectively combat illegal migration and also the alien smuggling and other types of crime associated with this phenomenon through rapid exchange and comprehensive analysis of all available information. Another objective is to identify new developments at an early stage.
By focusing on selected phenomena in high-priority fields of crime with the support of the relevant specialised sections as well as by conducting intensive cross-case operational analysis, Division SO is working to achieve long-term suppression of international organised crime.