Germany’s secret service, the BND, is heavily involved in the delivery of weapons to crisis areas of the world. As this documentary shows, it has - among other things - played along with arms deals made by German shipping companies.

Top secret operations are carried out silently, bypassing the federal authorities by exploiting a blind spot between the Foreign Trade and the War Weapons Control Acts. The weapons are not shipped from
Germany, but via a secret port in Ukraine that does not appear on any map. The trail leads to Kyiv, where a former Ukrainian president confirms the existence of the port and the "delicate” arms deals. For the first time, the chief of the country’s secret service acknowledges that German companies are involved in the shipping of military weapons via the Ukraine, and provides the film team with the first and only television pictures of the secret port. Research in the USA throws up more alarming indications. American satellite images show the port where heavy-lift carriers load tanks, howitzers and other military equipment. At least two German shipping companies are involved in the operation.

The plethora of secret documents points in particular to a former world market leader in the heavy-lift cargo business, the Bremen-based in Beluga shipping company, which has since ceased trading. Four of its ships are explicitly named. Loading and stowage lists show that the shipping company repeatedly planned and shipped armaments - and one man, a BND officer with the code name "Klaus Hollmann,” was always involved. The German parliament only found out about the BND’s involvement in the arms deliveries through the makers of this film and is now trying to get to the bottom of the affair. Intelligence experts see this as an important step in averting further damage to German Democracy.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X1Y0Mj7Qzc

How are German weapons reaching crisis zones?

German weapons have been sold to crisis zones around the world without being licensed for export. Now, a court is trying to determine how German arms were sent overseas and who was responsible for their shipment.

In 2015, a German television documentary uncovered the export of G36 assault rifles from Baden-Württemberg to a part of Mexico plagued by violence and human rights violations. The reporters found that the manufacturer, Heckler & Koch, had no export license for these guns. Shortly after the broadcast, prosecutors in Stuttgart filed charges against the executives believed to be behind the deal, after a five-year investigation. But the court acquitted the executives and only a secretary was convicted. Now an appeal has been filed with Germany’s Supreme Court, the Bundesgerichtshof.

Filmmaker Daniel Harrich followed the Stuttgart court case closely and now analyzes what happened in this documentary. He also asks if the German authorities also share moral responsibility for the consignment. Giiven Germany’s strict monitoring of arms exports, Harrich wonders how Heckler & Koch assault rifles ended up in four troubled Mexican provinces without the appropriate paperwork.

During his research, Harrich visited a number of sites in Germany and Mexico, where he came across yet another arms deal that triggered even more questions. Is a new weapons’ export scandal in the making even before the verdict in the appeal is announced?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SCjJT5_3Ag