Parcel flood and illegal employment - customs to be strengthened

Narcotics smuggling mainly by sea

Combating international narcotics trafficking is another focus of customs work. Last year, around 12,600 investigations were initiated nationwide in this area. In most cases, the drugs - especially cocaine - come to Germany by sea.

In total, customs seized around 69 tons of narcotics nationwide, including more than 54 tons of marijuana and around 6.5 tons of cocaine. The customs officers also found around 256 million cigarettes, around 7,500 prohibited weapons and 1.8 million pieces of ammunition.

Almost 100,000 criminal proceedings for illegal employment

Customs' Financial Control Unit (FKS) is responsible for combating illegal employment. Its employees checked around 25,800 employers last year. More than 52,100 administrative offense proceedings and around 98,200 criminal proceedings were initiated.

Undeclared work caused damage of around 675 million euros. "Undeclared work is no small matter. It is illegal," said Federal Minister of Finance Klingbeil. Not only is the economy suffering great damage, but the social security system is also losing considerable revenue.

New investigation units in the fight against money laundering

Klingbeil also wants to step up the fight against money laundering, but is not pursuing the establishment of a new authority that was once envisaged. Instead, new investigation units are to be created within the existing customs structures. The previous "traffic light" federal government had wanted to create a federal office to combat financial crime. This is now not to happen.

Copyright 2026, dpa (www.dpa.de). All rights reserved