Updated

Updated · DW (English) · Aug 21

Germany Probes 2-Pistol Berlin Cache as Romania Holds Suspect in Russian-Linked Plot

Updated

Updated · DW (English) · Aug 21

Germany Probes 2-Pistol Berlin Cache as Romania Holds Suspect in Russian-Linked Plot

Q: How did German authorities originally locate the professionally concealed assassin's weapons cache before planting GPS trackers?

German authorities appear to have found the cache because the domestic intelligence service, the BfV, received specific intelligence about its location and then sent officers to verify the tip on the ground. The reporting says the weapons were professionally hidden in a forest near the Berlin-Brandenburg border, but investigators were not searching at random. They were reportedly acting on prior information, described in several accounts as a tip or concrete location data. After reaching the site, officers uncovered the concealed depot and confirmed it contained two operational handguns. Only after that discovery did specialists secretly disable the guns and fit them with GPS trackers, while leaving the hiding place largely intact under surveillance in hopes that someone would return to collect the weapons. So the cache was originally located through intelligence-led information provided to German security services, not through the GPS devices themselves.

3 articles · Updated · DW (English) · Aug 21

German authorities said a suspect detained in Romania last year is being investigated for espionage and planning a violent attack tied to a weapons cache found near Berlin.
Two pistols and ammunition were discovered in a forest near the capital; police disabled the guns, left them in place and watched the site for months, but no one returned.
Alexander Dobrindt said Germany is discussing possible extradition with Romania, describing the detainee as a low-level agent who likely did not know the network above him.
Dobrindt would not confirm media reports that the cache was meant for assassinations on Russia's behalf, saying only that foreign involvement could not be ruled out.
The case adds to Germany's wider warnings that it faces daily hybrid threats — from espionage and sabotage to covert operations — after recent incidents including an explosives-laden drone at Leipzig Airport.