Thirty years ago, Giovanni Falcone was killed in Palermo. The assassination of this outstanding prosecutor – as well as many other magistrates, police officers, civil servants and activists – was meant to instil fear, to discourage anyone from fighting organised crime.

German law enforcement authorities, at the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), conducted several searches this morning, 12 May 2022, in an investigation into missing trader VAT fraud with estimated tax loss damages of more than €40 million.