Gold robbery at border control: Turkish driver suspected of money laundering!

Gold robbery at border control: Turkish driver suspected of money laundering!

On Friday, June 27, 2025, an unexpected find kept investigators from the Passau border police station busy on the A3 motorway. At around 6.30 p.m. the officers checked a van with a Turkish registration. What they discovered made people sit up and take notice: several wrapped packages with a total weight of around eight kilograms of gold and jewelry. Suspicion of money laundering led to the seizure of the valuable finds because the driver, a 45-year-old Turkish citizen, could not provide any proof of the origin or use of the gold bars. The Lower Bavaria Criminal Police Inspectorate took over the investigation, but the driver was allowed to continue his journey after the measures were completed. This is reported by the Bavaria Police Headquarters.

What is happening at the borders? Another incident in the region illustrates the explosive nature of the issue of money laundering. On Sunday, also in the Passau area, a vehicle with Swiss registration was checked in Neuhaus am Inn. During this check, the officers found five-figure cash as well as rough diamonds that were collectively worth several hundred thousand euros. The 71-year-old driver gave inconsistent information, which also led to suspicion of money laundering. After the money and diamonds were secured, the Passau Criminal Police Inspectorate and the public prosecutor's office took over the further investigation. He was also allowed to leave after police measures were taken while the investigations continue. This is what the Passauer Neue Presse reports.

Anti-money laundering background

These incidents are not isolated, but are in the context of a national strategy to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, which has been pursued in Germany since 2017. A national risk analysis was launched under the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF), in which 35 federal and state authorities are involved. The aim is to identify and minimize existing and future risks in combating money laundering. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) plays a crucial role here, particularly when processing suspected money laundering reports. The Federal Customs Administration shows that anonymous transaction options, the real estate sector and the financial transfer business are among the biggest risk areas.

These latest control actions once again illustrate how important civil society and police action is in combating money laundering. As time and technology change, it requires a trained eye to understand the background of such transactions.