German Customs has issued a press release announcing raids as part of investigations into the suspected Russian exports by three separate companies. A total of 14 residential and commercial properties were raided in the Rhine-Main area.
The press release states that the investigations first arose out of a routine Customs audit:
“there is a suspicion that two of the companies have commercially exported various machine parts and chemical substances to Russia in violation of an existing ban. To this end, they allegedly used a transport company and other foreign logistics service providers to sell or export sanctioned goods from the Rhine-Main region to the Russian Federation without authorisation by means of so-called circumvention exports via neighbouring states”.
The actions of the third company are not specified.