Combating criminal structures effectively by joining forces

Whether it is financial crimes, money laundering, drug trafficking or gang and clan structures: organised crime is a threat to domestic security and causes lasting damage to trust in the state.

In order to effectively combat these criminal structures and strengthen domestic security, the Federal Cabinet has adopted a joint action plan. The Federal Government is thus sending a signal against organised crime - to protect domestic security and Germany's status as a business and financial location.

The action plan was developed jointly by the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Ministry of Justice. It was approved by the Cabinet on 25 February 2026.

Tightening the grip of the rule of law

Current Federal reporting on organised crime and drug-related crime estimates that the damage caused by related offences in 2024 amounted to 2.65 billion euros, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office.

"The perpetrators are undermining the rule of law, they are defrauding the general public, and they are causing enormous damage at the expense of all of us", said Federal Minister of Finance Lars Klingbeil at the press conference in Berlin. Stepping up the fight against organised crime is a question of justice, he said.

Improving information exchange

One focus of the action plan is therefore to reorganise the fight against crime in law enforcement and security agencies. Customs and the Federal Criminal Police Office are to be strengthened legally and technically as given more personnel. According to Federal Minister of the Interior Alexander Dobrindt, this has been jointly agreed. "We are very much in agreement that this can only be achieved with additional staff", he said.

Above all, the exchange of information between the agencies will be significantly improved. In the future, the aim is to use new technologies such as AI in the fight against crime - for automated data analysis and biometric internet matching, for example. According to Federal Minister of the Interior Dobrindt, the agreement is a huge step towards consolidating the data in a data centre.

Securing assets

"Crime must not pay in our country. Perpetrators must be identified quickly, brought to justice and punished consistently", emphasised Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig. Central to this is the tracking of illegal cash flows. Therefore, there should be more possibilities in the future for securing and confiscating criminal assets such as cash, luxury cars or houses while complying with constitutional law.

Competence centres planned

Additional competence centres are also planned to effectively combat financial crime - a joint competence centre shared between customs and the Federal Criminal Police Office and an investigation centre for money laundering at customs.

International cooperation will also be expanded in order to uncover and combat international drug-related crime. In this context, a joint "narcotics" analysis and evaluation centre will be set up by the Central Office of the German Customs Investigation Service and the Federal Criminal Police Office.