Overview

• Searches targeted 13 properties in the Hannover region, Hildesheim, Pforzheim/Enzkreis and Lippe as officers sought illegal firearms and clues to any coordinated actions.
• Eight suspects aged 32 to 57 are under investigation on suspicion of forming and participating in a right‑wing armed group.
• Four suspects are also accused of unlawful possession of war weapons and fully automatic firearms, with a pistol and ammunition seized from one man in April.
• Officials reported securing several live short‑ and long‑barreled weapons not currently classified as war weapons, plus ammunition, cash, items suitable as explosives and numerous data storage devices.
• The operation is led by the Celle Central Office for Counter‑Terrorism with Lower Saxony’s LKA and included special police units, while reporting links the raids to the ‘Nordbund’ network and a Hildesheim tattoo studio, a connection not confirmed by prosecutors.