German police raids tied to money laundering, crime gangs

BERLIN — Special police units searched around 30 buildings Tuesday in connection with money laundering and organized crime in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Investigators raided homes, offices and stores in Duisburg, Leverkusen, Gelsenkirchen and other cities in the Rhineland and Ruhr Valley, the German news agency dpa reported.

They confiscated possessions and executed arrest warrants, dpa reported without elaborating. Investigators were to release further details on the raids later in the day.