Saxon Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) would like to expand the joint investigation teams (GFG) of the state police and federal police in the future. The minister left the timing and details open after the cabinet meeting in Dresden. He hopes that this will lead to even more security near the border.
The joint investigation teams have been in place since 2006 and the federal police are on board because the search takes place close to the border and offenders may have to be pursued into neighboring countries. "Eastern European criminal groups in particular use the A4 freeway to get to the crime scenes quickly and also to take the stolen goods out of the country after the crime has been committed," according to the concept for the GFG at the time.
The joint investigation teams are not only responsible for car theft, however. An important area of work also involves apprehending smugglers who bring refugees to Germany illegally. The GFG are present at five locations in Saxony. In addition to Bautzen, these are Chemnitz, Dresden, Leipzig and Zwickau.
Schuster assumed that the tightened border controls since Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) took office would have an effect. He did not give exact numbers of cases of apprehensions.
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