The largest cocaine discovery in post-war German history was heard in Cologne district court. The house in Eitorf where the key witness’s brother lived has now been shot at.
The defendant spoke in room 112 of the Cologne District Court. On Tuesday morning, Habib I. reported that the bag of money he was carrying was several hundred thousand euros. “I have accumulated up to a million euros,” admits the Bulgarian native of Turkish origin.
The alleged coke maker reported a meeting with his superiors on the Turkish-Bulgarian border. He talked about containers in the port of Hamburg with their drug caches, which he observed hours before they were smuggled out of the customs area. As the former craft company operator from Eitorf spoke, the tension in the hall was palpable. 32 people are sitting close together here.
A heavily guarded room: A key witness cracks the case
Lawyers, translators, experts, public prosecutors, the court – and six other defendants. There were also eight court guards with batons and handcuffs. And two more security officers were stationed in front of the entrance. Habib I. is the only defendant in a drug case who gave extensive testimony.
This man in his mid-thirties is the defendant and key witness. The insider who was supposed to reveal the people behind the giant drug trial during several days of negotiations.
40 tonnes of cocaine: focus on a multi-billion dollar market
This giant complex involves the smuggling of 40 tons of cocaine with a market value of 2.6 billion euros. The largest cocaine discovery in post-war German history.
The alleged drug trafficker therefore provides deep insight into the structure of the gang which is said to have smuggled drugs from South America to Germany via the port of Hamburg between 2022 and 2023. There is talk of infighting and death threats within the organisation. Especially if drug connections fight over money, which often happens, according to the defendant.
Fake companies and covering up imports: This is how this gang operates
The group works with three “business partners” in Germany. Habib I reported that these contacts established many front companies for drug smuggling. Disguised as a shipment of bananas or pineapples from South America, hundreds of kilograms of “white snow” were hidden under boxes.
Habib I confirmed several fictitious company names. Each of the “big three” business partners will receive 250,000 euros “from head office” if they once again manage to get coke containers through German customs undetected.
Shooting in Eitorf: Police confirm attack
“As a success bonus, apart from costs, there are costs that arise, for example from the fake company’s place of business, staff or warehouse,” explained the alleged gang member. The judge asked what their names were, the three drug syndicate partners. The defendant revealed two names. Then he was silent.
He finally said he couldn’t name a third person. This is too dangerous for his family. “My brother’s house was just shot up after I started testifying here,” whispered Habib I. The judge nodded meaningfully.
In fact, on October 16, a number of men shot in front of his brother’s house in Eitorf. A spokesperson for the Rhein-Sieg district police authority confirmed the attack to FOCUS online.
Reference to warning shots: investigators are examining the connection
“No one was hurt,” the officer explained. He did not want to comment in more detail. As FOCUS online has learned from investigators, it is now assumed that there was a warning. It is suspected that the attack was aimed at the defendant Habib I.
Including the former Cologne boss of the disbanded Hells Angels “Rhine Area” charter, Kamil S. His brother Hamid is said to have ordered the murder of an apostate in Cologne-Mülheim in 2023. Hamid has now been sentenced to 15 years in prison for this. However, the Federal Constitutional Court found procedural errors.
Escape to Türkiye: The rocker boss is still active
This case must be heard again in court. Until then, Hamid was still detained. His brother, Kamil, according to prosecutors at the drug complex now on trial, was said to have been part of a three-person leadership team that organized the coke trade on a large scale.
The boss is believed to be a gangster from Dubai whose identity is unknown. Prosecutors have recorded ten shipments of large amounts of drugs from abroad.
It is said that it always involves a lot of material. Former rocker boss Kamil S. is considered a brutal leader.
Turkish Rocker Connection: Arabaci arrested again
He reportedly left for his native Türkiye at the end of 2022. From there he was reportedly involved in a large cocaine business. Based on further findings, he is said to maintain close contact with former red light boss Neco Arabaci.
Arabaci is considered the “Godfather of Cologne”. In 2007 he was deported to Türkiye. He was arrested again in Izmir a month ago. His friend, Kamil S., is still at large. OC Düsseldorf investigators are now investigating the possibility that S. was behind the shooting attack.
A key witness provides damning details – and comes under pressure himself
Footage from a speed camera near the crime scene is evidence.
Habib I has named the former rocker as one of the masterminds of the police interrogation.
The businessman from Eitorf explained in detail how he gradually entered the circle of suspected gangsters. However, because he couldn’t afford to pay, he finally agreed to work for the rockers.
The port of Hamburg as a hub: logistics in the shadows
From then on, I. acted as a henchman for a cocaine gang, spying on the situation in the port of Hamburg and driving trucks carrying goods. This case shows the increasing flood of cocaine into Germany.
The coca plant grows abundantly in the highlands of South America. Cultivation areas in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia continue to expand. Cocaine is spreading “very strongly in Germany because the market in North America is already saturated,” BKA boss Holger Münch warned.
Encrochat and SkyECC: Investigators use hacked crypto phones
It was only in April that two former port employees were convicted in Hamburg.
Communication occurred via crypto phones – until investigators were able to crack the code. According to the BKA, the total cocaine confiscated in 2023 will be 43 tonnes.
The majority comes from Mammut’s Cologne process.
Back to the cocaine trial in Cologne. Habib I. wants to continue testifying. He sits in a high-security section of Cologne prison – strictly isolated. No one knows what else could happen to him.
