Two male suspects apprehended following an armed robbery at Maschen's Rangierbahnhof station.
In a surprising turn of events, a special commission named "Depot" by the Federal Police was established to investigate the theft of 40 rifles from a container transported by rail in Nuremberg. The weapons, originating from China, had been legally imported into Germany via the Hamburg port.
The trail of the stolen weapons led from Nuremberg to the Maschen marshalling yard, where a railway employee noticed that a seal was missing from the container on March 16. Remnants of the seal were later found between the tracks at the Maschen marshalling yard.
The theft was believed to have been carried out deliberately, based on a tip from an insider. A special unit of officers lay in wait at an undisclosed location, and on April 6, the two Belarusian men, aged 30 and 49, were arrested in Maschen for stealing the weapons from the container.
The duo intended to offer and sell the stolen weapons on the darknet. A hiding place near the Maschen marshalling yard was discovered where the stolen weapons were buried in plastic bags. The suspects were living in the Seevetal area without registering and were allowed to stay in Germany under a tolerance permit.
Both men are currently in custody and not cooperating with investigators. The authorities believe the suspects to be "professionals" due to their methodical approach to the crime. The stolen weapons, destined for a company in southern Germany that deals in weapons, have not come to police attention prior to this incident.
Despite the informant who presumably instigated the theft remaining unidentified in the provided search results, the investigation continues to unfold, shedding light on the complex world of illegal arms trading.
