Police have arrested a 55-year-old man from Rotterdam on suspicion of handling around €60 million in cash for a Turkish-German crime gang that smuggled gold to Turkey.
The man, who was detained in Eindhoven, was one of five people arrested in raids on October 7, police said on Wednesday. The other four were held in Germany. Police describe him as a suspected “underground banker”, an illegal financial intermediary.
Around 500 Dutch and German police and German customs officers took part in the operation, which was carried out with the support of Europol. The investigation began in October 2023, when German traffic police found several kilos of gold and almost €500,000 in cash hidden in a car on a motorway.
Rotterdam seaport police raided two properties in Rotterdam and Eindhoven, seizing data storage devices, around €10,000 in cash, a vehicle and real estate.
German police seized property worth at least €2 million, along with 19 vehicles, around €100,000 in cash and a “large quantity” of scrap gold and silver bars.
Police say the group funnelled tens of millions of euros a year to Turkey, probably the proceeds of drug dealing. The money was used to buy old gold through friendly jewellers, which was melted into bars and then smuggled to Turkey. An estimated 1 to 4 tonnes of gold, worth €55 million to €210 million, was smuggled over six years.
