A Berlin local group of the Hells Angels rocker gang has been banned by Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) for criminal activities. With a large raid, the police began early Thursday morning against the rocker group "Hells Angels MC Berlin Central" and several sub-organizations, as the Senate Department and the police announced.

Around 1,300 police officers were deployed in four federal states, including several special task forces (SEK) from the federal states and the GSG9 of the federal police. First the "B.Z." reported.

45 apartments and other rooms such as a clubhouse and prison cells were searched in Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, 42 people were affected, a police spokeswoman said. The aim is to transmit the prohibition order and to secure evidence. There was initially no talk of arrests, and there were also no arrest warrants.

Club assets have been confiscated

The Senate announced: "It is now forbidden to distribute or publicly use the symbols of the association and its support group." The club's assets were confiscated. The club is a replacement organization for the club "HAMC Berlin City", which was banned in 2012, and is continuing its "unconstitutional efforts", it said. The ban at that time only came into force later.

The former club then dissolved itself after several members ended up in prison or fled abroad for the so-called betting shop murder in 2014. "Today's ban makes it clear that we will not look the other way when a newly created organization takes the place of an association that was already banned in 2012 and replaces it," said Interior Senator Spranger.

Most recently, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) banned the rocker-like group "United Tribuns" with almost 100 members in Germany on September 14. At that time, 1,450 police officers searched more than 100 private apartments and club rooms of the group in nine federal states.