Boats selling fish sandwiches to tourists can earn as much as €200,000 in the German town of Stralsund. This has led to the presence of a “fish mafia” in the town, consisting of organised criminals competing for cash.
A 31-year-old man and his 36-year-old accomplice have been imprisoned. The former will receive 25 months and the latter nine months. The man was found guilty of attacking and injuring Heinz-Dieter Hartlieb, deputy mayor of Stralsund. He has been under police protection ever since the July 2012 incident.
Meanwhile, his accomplice planted a fake bomb outside the Department of Planning and Buie men belonged to a “fish mafia” and had been carrying out orders from people higher up in control.
The bomb contained a threatening letter attacked to Hartlieb. Prosecutors alleged that thm somebody higher up.
They were accused of using violence and intimidation in order to scare off competition in the innocent-faced fish sandwich trade located at the peaceful town harbour. An increase in violence had been noted ever since the pair arrived in the town and tried to increase the number of available licenses for businesses selling the sandwiches at the waterfront.
Since then, a boat and a car belonging to a family who had recently opened their own fish sandwich shop was set on fire. Another member of the family saw their hotel targeted by people throwing acid. The value of the damage was around €60,000.
The charge against the 36-year-old accomplice in which it was alleged that he had incited the attack on deputy mayor Hartlieb by the 31-year-old has been dropped. He was already serving a three-and-a-half-year sentence for extortion by means of force however.
