Remscheid weapons trial: Illegal weapons collector sentenced to prison

Found in North Rhine-Westphalia Man sentenced to prison for illegal weapons collection As of: October 30, 2026 • 2:08 p.m

300 live weapons, 100,000 rounds of ammunition and all in a residential area next to a school. The verdict has been reached in the trial against the main defendant from Remscheid. The man was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

It is October 2025: undercover police investigators have had several people in their sights for months. The suspicion: illegal arms trade. Not only the Federal Police are involved in the investigation, but also the LKA, BKA and Europol. A reference to a transport of war weapons leads to Remscheid.

Three suspects are arrested. In the basement of a car repair shop in the middle of Remscheid, the investigators find an entire “private museum” full of weapons and military antiques.

The finds range from mannequins wearing military uniforms, marijuana, cocaine, knives and old machine guns from World War II to hand grenades and live firearms.

The next day the news: A second room had been found. And it doesn't stop there: there are four rooms in total, filled to the brim with weapons and explosives. A labyrinth with secret doors, partitions and hidden locking mechanisms.

Over 200 emergency services have been busy searching the basement of the apartment building for several weeks. The apartments in the house must be evacuated.

Among other things, machine guns, pistols, precision rifles, hand grenades and anti-tank weapons are seized - a total of 300 live weapons and 100,000 rounds of ammunition.

Experts from the explosive ordnance disposal service are called in and have to blow up a hand grenade on site because transport would have been too dangerous.

The subsequent investigation shows that many of the weapons found are sharp and ready for use. The finds are causing a stir across Germany.

NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul speaks of successful international cooperation. The arrests are “a major blow to organized crime.” Nevertheless, the case raises the question for many people as to how such a huge cache of weapons could remain undetected for so long.

The process begins in July 2026. It's about one of the largest weapons finds in the history of the Federal Republic. Public interest and therefore the rush of press representatives is great. Sometimes the news talks about “gun mafia”.

Three men are sitting in the dock. The focus is on the main defendant - a now 60-year-old man. The two younger people - one 35 and one 38 years old - are said to have helped him resell the weapons.

Defendant denies trafficking Arrow right At the start it becomes clear: There are even more weapons involved than previously assumed. It takes the prosecutor almost an hour to list all the weapons seized. The 35-year-old co-defendant confessed on the first day of the trial that he had dealt in weapons.

Hobby collector or gun dealer? The 60-year-old from Remscheid rejects the allegations. He never traded in weapons and was just an ambitious collector. Weapons and military antiques were his life. He claims to have spent most of his free time collecting weapons.

“I never sold sharp weapons”

He looked for everything that had to do with it at flea markets and with a metal detector in the forest. He was not aware that it was more than just decoration. He never claims to have used sharp weapons. Almost no one is said to have known about the hiding places.

An acquaintance of the defendant told the court that he showed him his “private museum”. The witness says he has never seen anything like this in his entire life. At that moment, the distance to everything he had ever learned about weapons and war suddenly became much smaller.

The defendant had previously also stated that he had only temporarily stored the weapons for someone else. However, this is now contradicted by a witness from Poland who claims to have sold the defendant at least 300 weapons.

In September, the two younger men were sentenced to two and a half and three and a half years in prison. The 60-year-old main defendant is said to have obtained weapons and the two men sold them on.

Prison discount through "deal" The Remscheider is still accused of having supplied organized crime. In order to avoid a longer prison sentence, all parties agree on a sentence of at least six and a maximum of seven years in prison.

Deal in the arms dealer trial Arrow right The condition for this “deal” is a comprehensive confession by the defendant. The defendant admits to purchasing 70 submachine guns, the retail value of which is set at 1,000 euros each.

Broadcast: WDR.de, Verdict expected in the largest weapons find, October 30, 2026, 5:05 a.m. Broadcast: WDR.de, Six and a half years in prison, October 30, 2026, 1:05 p.m